Good Christian men, rejoice and sing

Good Christian men, rejoice and sing. Cyril Argentine Alington* (1872-1955). Written for SofPE (1931) to the tune by Melchior Vulpius* called VULPIUS (or GELOBT SEI GOTT). It is a rousing hymn of Easter praise, with a threefold ‘Alleluia’ (sometimes printed ‘Hallelujah’) as a refrain. In the many books in which it has appeared, there have been alterations, beginning with the opening, which is normally changed to ‘Good Christians all’ in the interest of inclusive language. ‘All mankind’ in stanza 2 line 3 is sometimes changed for the same reason to ‘all the world’ or ‘all the earth’, or even to ‘everyone’. Other changes have been made to make the hymn appear more modern. In stanza 2 line 1,...