Where is this stupendous stranger

Where is this stupendous stranger. Christopher Smart* (1722-1771). This hymn is from Smart’s Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Fasts and Festivals of the Church of England, published with A Translation of the Psalms of David in 1765. The hymn was entitled ‘The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’. It had nine verses, of which four (1, 2, 3, 9) are usually selected to make the hymn in modern books. The first verse has been altered from the original line 2: ‘Swains of Solyma, advise’ (referring to the shepherds, and to the Latin name for Jerusalem). Other verses proclaim the rout of the powers of darkness, and the traditional turning of winter into spring by the coming of...