A History of Hymns of the Season (2)
Good King Wencaslas
Good King Wenceslas
1854
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:13-14
This story is about two men—a Bohemian Duke and an Anglican minister—who lived nearly a thousand years apart.
Wenceslas was born in Bohemia, in modern Czechoslovakia, in the early 900s. His father, the Czech ruler, Duke Ratislav, gave him a good education supervised by his godly grandmother. When his father died, Wenceslas, seeing his mother mishandle affairs of state, stepped in at age 18, seizing the reins of government.
From the beginning, he proved a different sort of king. He sought good relations with surrounding nations, particularly with Germany. He took steps to reform the judicial system, reducing the number of death sentences and the arbitrary power of judges. He encouraged the building of churches and showed heartfelt concern for the poor. He reportedly cut firewood for orphans and widows, often carrying the provisions on his own shoulders through the snow.
Wenceslas’ brief reign ended suddenly. His pagan and rebellious brother, Boleslav, murdered him on September 28, 929, as he left for church. His people venerated him as a martyr, and today Wenceslas is the patron saint of Czechoslovakia.
He would be hardly remembered, however, but for John Mason Neale, an Anglican minister with a passion for returning church architecture and music to their ancient grandeur. Neale helped establish a committee to investigate and restore dilapidated church buildings in Great Britain. He was particularly upset at the ugly stoves installed to heat churches in Victorian times.
Disliking the hymns of Isaac Watts, he also sought to return church music to its medieval roots. Neale worked hard to translate ancient Greek, Latin, and Syrian hymns into English. In so doing, he gave us the Christmas carols, “Good Christian Men Rejoice,” (a fourteenth century text set to a fourteenth century tune), and “O come, O Come Emmanuel,” (a ninth-century text set to a fifteenth-century tune.) He also translated the Palm Sunday hymn, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.”
Good King Wenceslas is not a translation, but an original poem written by Neale to honor a godly monarch’s concern for the poor. Neale himself worked with the needy, serving as a warden of a charitable residence for indigent old men. John Neale’s antiquated opinions were widely scorned in his own day, but we’re still singing his songs.
Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen, /
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night, tho’ the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, gath’ring winter fuel.
“Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know’st it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain;
Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes’ fountain.”
“Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither:
Thou and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither.”
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together;
Through the rude wind’s wild lament and the bitter weather.
“Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, good my page. Tread thou in them boldly.
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage freeze thy blood less coldly.”
In his master’s steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.
