+This extraordinarly lovely . . . pure and holy . . .
world renown hymn . . . is a . . .
joyous . . . exquisitely beautiful hymn of . . .
praise . . . to our . . .
Wonderful Triune God . . . first published in
1931 . . . lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon . . . to the lovely Scottish melody . . .
“Bunessan” . . . which was first published in
1900 . . .
:harp:
Morning Has Broken
Morning has broken, like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird.
Praise for the singing,
praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing fresh from the
Word.
Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dew fall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where
His Feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning,
Born of the one light Eden saw play.
Praise with elation,
praise every morning,
God’s re-creation of the new day.
Cool the gray clouds roll, peaking the mountains,
Gull in her free flight, swooping the skies.
Praise for the mystery, misting the morning,
Behind the shadow, waiting to shine.
I am the sunrise, warming the heavens,
Spilling my warm glow over the earth.
Praise for the brightness of this new morning,
Filling my spirit with
Your great love.
Mine is a turning, mine is a new life,
Mine is a journey closer to You.
Praise for the sweet glimpse, caught in a moment,
Joy breathing deeply, dancing in flight.
The hymn originally appeared in the second edition of Songs of Praise (published in 1931), to the tune "Bunessan", composed in the Scottish Highlands. In Songs of Praise Discussed, the editor, Percy Dearmer, explains that as there was need for a hymn to give thanks for each day, English poet and children’s author Eleanor Farjeon had been “asked to make a poem to fit the lovely Scottish tune”. A slight variation on the original hymn, also written by Eleanor Farjeon, can be found in the form of a poem contributed to the anthology Children’s Bells, under Farjeon’s new title, “A Morning Song (For the First Day of Spring”, published by Oxford University Press in 1957.
“Bunessan” had been found in L. McBean’s Songs and Hymns of the Gael, published in 1900.[3] Before Farjeon’s words, the tune was used as a Christmas Carol, which began “Child in the manger, Infant of Mary”, translated from the Scottish Gaelic lyrics written by Mary MacDonald. The English-language Roman Catholic hymnal also uses the tune for the Charles Stanford hymns “Christ Be Beside Me” and “This Day God Gives Me”, both of which were adapted from the traditional Irish hymn St. Patrick’s Breastplate.
. . . all for Jesus+
. . . thank You Blessed Lord+
. . . thank You Blessed Holy Mother Mary+
. . . thank you Holy Mother Church+
Bishop of Rome from 590 to 604, who is traditionally credited for having ordered the simplification and cataloging of music assigned to specific celebrations in the church calendar. The resulting body of music is the first to be notated in a system ancestral to modern musical notation. In general, the chants were learned by the viva voce method, that is, by following the given example orally, which took many years of experience in the Schola Cantorum. Gregorian chant originated in monastic life, in which celebrating the ‘Divine Office’ eight times a day at the proper hours was upheld according to the Rule of St. Benedict. Singing :harp: psalms made up a large part of the life in a monastic community, while a smaller group and soloists sang the chants.