We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Prayer and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav’n replies
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
This one I’m displaying a little bit of parental pride and using a video to get the audio — video of the Eastgate Middle School 8th grade choir — the choir my son is in.
This carol, like many others, I like because of its structure. It doesn’t tell a story in what someone might think of as a story today, but it does tell the visit of the magi, their gifts, their meaning, each one gets a verse, with a beginning and ending verse to cap it off.
The themes of the verses aren’t popular things by modern definition — royalty, deity, sacrifice — yet these kings speak to us from the wisdom of a different age, a wisdom we can learn from a simple carol.
At The Rainbow 