WHAT CHILD IS THIS?

What Child Is This?

What Child is this, who laid to rest, On Mary's lap is sleeping?Whom angels greet with anthems sweet While shepherds watch are keeping?This, this is Christ the King Whom shepherds guard and angels sing.Haste, haste to bring Him laud,The Babe, the Son of Mary.Why lies He in such mean estate Where ox and ass are feeding? Good Christian, fear: for sinners here,The silent Word is pleading.This, this is Christ the King Whom shepherds guard and angels sing. Haste, haste to bring Him laud,The Babe, the Son of Mary. Nails, spear, shall pierce Him through,The Cross be borne, for me, for you:Hail, hail, the Word made flesh,The Babe, the Son of Mary! This, this is Christ the King Whom shepherds guard and angels sing.Haste, haste to bring Him laud, The Babe, the Son of Mary.So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh;Come peasant, king to own Him.The King of Kings salvation brings;Let loving hearts enthrone Him.This, this is Christ the King Whom shepherds guard and angels sing.Haste, haste to bring Him laud,The Babe, the Son of Mary.Raise, raise, the song on high,The Virgin sings her lullaby:Joy joy for Christ is born,The Babe, the Son of Mary! This, this is Christ the King Whom shepherds guard and angels sing.Haste, haste to bring Him laud,The Babe, the Son of Mary.

"What Child Is This?" is one of the most moving and beautiful of Victorian carols. It's history can be traced back farther than the days of the infamous Henry VIII. It dates from Elizabethan time, possibly even earlier."What Child Is This?" is a Christmas carol lyrically written in 1865 by William Chatterton Dix to the melody of "Greensleeves". Although the chorus changes from verse to verse, many recorded versions simply use the first chorus throughout.The song was first registered in 1850 to Richard Jones with lyrics that were neither religious nor respectable. Shakespeare mentions it by name in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in which is it played while traitors are hanged.