He who by a mother’s love
He who by a mother’s love. George MacDonald* (1824-1905).
This two-stanza poem appeared in MacDonald’s ‘Organ Songs’, in his Works of Fancy and Imagination (1871), and then in his Poetical Works (1893). It was entitled ‘Christmas Meditation’:
He who by a mother’s love Made the wandering world his own, Every year comes from above, Comes the parted to atone, Binding Earth to the Father’s throne.
Nay, thou comest every day! No, thou never didst depart! Never hour hast been away! Always with us, Lord, thou art, Binding, binding heart to heart!
According to Milgate (1982, p. 97) these words were set to music by Alfred Ernest Floyd (1877-1974), ca. 1922, who used them at carol services at...
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Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "He who by a mother’s love."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed May 17, 2026,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/h/he-who-by-a-mother’s-love.