by William Dunbar (1465 - 1520?)

Rorate caeli desuper (Of the Nativity of Christ)
 (Sung text for setting by F. Scott)
 See original
Language: Scottish (Scots) 
Rorate, celi, desuper!
Heav’n distil your balmy show’rs,
For now is ris’n the bricht day ster,
Fro the Rose Mary, flow’r of flow’rs:
The clear sun, whom no cloud devours,
Surmounting Phoebus in the east,
Is coming of his heav’nly towers;
Et nobis puer natus est.

 ...

Confirmed with, William Dunbar - Poems, edited by James Kinsley. Published by Oxford University Press 1958. Page 1

English translation of the title is: "Drop down, ye heavens, from above" (King James Bible: Isaiah Chapter 45, Verse 8)

Composition:

    Set to music by Francis George Scott (1880 - 1958), "Rorate caeli desuper (Of the Nativity of Christ)", published 1934, stanzas 1,7 [ voice and piano ], from Scottish Lyrics, Book 3, no. 3, Bayley & Ferguson; confirmed with Songs of Francis George Scott, selected and edited by Neil Mackay, Roberton Publications, Aylesbury 1980, page 120.

Text Authorship:

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Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-11-22
Line count: 56
Word count: 328