Iam desinant suspiria

Iam desinant suspiria.  Charles Coffin* (1676-1749). This hymn appeared in the Paris Breviary (1736) and in Hymni Sacri Auctore Carolo Coffin (1736). It was written for Matins on Christmas Day. It is a very attractive Christmas hymn, which has attracted much attention from translators (see JJ, pp. 576-7). The Latin text was printed in John Chandler*’s Hymns of the Primitive Church (1837), in the ‘Hymni Ecclesiae’ (i.e. Latin) section. It had eight stanzas, beginning: Jam desinant suspiria; Audivit ex alto Deus, Coeli patescunt; en adest Promissa pax mortalibus. Profunda noctis otia Coelestis abrumpit chorus, Natumque festo carmine Annunciat terres Deum. Chandler’s translation began: Cease,...