Lyrics
See, amid the winter's snow,
Born for us on earth below,
See, the tender Lamb appears,
Promis'd from eternal years!
Hail, thou ever-blessed morn!
Hail, Redemption's happy dawn!
Sing through all Jerusalem,
Christ is born in Bethlehem!
Lo, within a manger lies
He who built the starry skies;
He, who thron'd in height sublime,
Sits amid the Cherubim!
Say, ye holy Shepherds, say,
What your joyful news to-day;
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep?
"As we watch'd at dead of night,
Lo, we saw a wondrous light;
Angels singing peace on earth,
Told us of the Savior's birth."
Sacred Infant all divine,
What a tender love was Thine;
Thus to come from highest bliss,
Down to such a world as this!
Teach, O teach us, holy Child,
By Thy face so meek and mild,
Teach us to resemble Thee,
In Thy sweet humility!
Public domain hymn text (1858), based on Luke 2.
The Story Behind the Hymn
Edward Caswall wrote "See, Amid the Winter's Snow" and published it in 1858 in his collection The Masque of Mary and Other Poems, under the title "Hymn for Christmas." It appeared not long after Caswall's conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1847, following his years as a Church of England clergyman, and his subsequent joining of the Birmingham Oratory under Cardinal John Henry Newman in 1850.
The hymn spread quickly through Catholic hymn collections in England, appearing in The Catholic Hymnal as early as 1860, only two years after its first publication, and continuing to appear in hymnals for the rest of the century. The tune most commonly associated with it, known as HUMILITY, was composed by Sir John Goss in 1871 and included in the influential collection Christmas Carols New and Old, edited by Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer — the pairing of Caswall's words with Goss's melody became, from that point forward, essentially inseparable in English carol tradition.
Structurally, the hymn moves through a series of direct addresses — first describing the scene at the manger, then turning to question the shepherds directly about the news that sent them running from their flocks, and finally addressing the infant Christ Himself, asking to be taught His own humility. That final turn, from narration to petition, gives the carol a devotional weight beyond simple storytelling.
Caswall, already known for his hymn translations from Latin and German, wrote comparatively few original English texts of his own; this carol stands as one of his most enduring original compositions, still sung widely at Christmas more than a century and a half after its first publication.
