The great forerunner of the morn
The great forerunner of the morn. Bede* (673-735), translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866).
This is a translation of Bede’s ‘Praecursor altus luminis’, a hymn for St John the Baptist’s Day. It had sixteen stanzas. Neale translated stanzas 1, 3, 5, and 8, 14-16 (16 is a doxology) for the Hymnal Noted Part II (1854):
The great forerunner of the morn, The herald of the Word is born; And faithful hearts shall never fail With thanks and praise his light to hail.
The hymn was printed in six stanzas with a doxology in the First Edition of A&M (1861) for the Nativity of St John the Baptist. It remained in this form until A&MR printed four stanzas with a doxology. Frost (1962, p. 423)...
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MLA style (see MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Ed.)
. "The great forerunner of the morn."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 18 Feb. 2026.<
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/t/the-great-forerunner-of-the-morn>.
Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "The great forerunner of the morn."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed February 18, 2026,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/t/the-great-forerunner-of-the-morn.