GOOD KING WENCESLAS

(Redirected from Good King Wenceslaus)
'"'Good King Wenceslas'" is a popular Christmas carol about a king who goes out to give alms to a poor peasant on St. Stephen's Day (December 26), the day after Christmas. In the journey, his page gives up the struggle against the cold weather and is aided by the king who provides the miracle of the warmth that’s needed in his footprints in the snow. The subject of the carol is the historical Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (907-935).
The tune is to "Tempus Adest Floridum" ("It is time for flowering"), a 13th-century spring carol, first published in the Swedish/Finnish ''Piae Cantiones'', 1582. The carol is also found in ''Carmina Burana'' as CB 142. "Tempus Adest Floridum" was translated into English as "The Flower Carol", and was recorded by Jean Ritchie on the album "Carols For all Seasons" (1959), with the "Good King Wenceslas" tune.
In 1853, G. J. R. Gordon, Her Majesty's Envoy and Minister at Stockholm, gave a rare copy of the 1582 edition of ''Piae Cantiones'' to The Reverend John Mason Neale (Warden of Sackville College, East Grinstead, Sussex) and to The Reverend Thomas Helmore (Vice-Principal of St. Mark's College, Chelsea). The book was entirely unknown in England at that time.
Neale translated some of the carols and hymns, and in 1853, he and Helmore published 12 carols in ''Carols for Christmas-tide'' (with music from Piae Cantiones). In 1854, they published 12 more in ''Carols for Easter-tide''. The inspirational copy of ''Piae Cantiones'' is now said to be in the British Museum.
The lyrics are by Neale (1818–1866). He may have written the hymn some time earlier; he related the story on which it is based in ''Deeds of Faith'' (1849).

Contents

Lyrics

Trivia

Cover Versions

External links

Lyrics

:Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen,

:When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even;

:Brightly shone the moon that night, tho' the frost was cruel,

:When a poor man came in sight gath'ring winter fuel.

:"Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know'st it, telling,

:Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?"

:"Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain;

:Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes' fountain."

:"Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither:

:Thou and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither."

:Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together;

:Through the rude wind's wild lament and the bitter weather.

:"Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger;

:Fails my heart, I know not how, I can go no longer."

:"Mark my footsteps, my good page. Tread thou in them boldly:

:Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly."

:In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;

:Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.

:Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,

:Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.

The lyrics are in the public domain.

Trivia

"Good King Wenceslas" was parodied by Peter Schickele, who published the choral work "Good King Kong" as a P.D.Q. Bach composition. "Good King Kong" contains both lyric and melodic similarities to its inspiration.
In an episode of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', "Good King Wenceslas" was dubbed over Jack Black's performance of one of his more ribald songs. The carol was poorly performed, and was accompanied by a montage of strange ''Space Ghost'' clips (''i.e.'', more bizarre than usual).
In the Discworld novel ''Hogfather'', the story of Good King Wenceslas was retold from an alternative perspective (saying that one cannot just provide at Christmas and feel good for the rest of the year).
In the comic strip "Pogo," whose characters frequently misquote Christmas carols, the character Churchy La Femme sings, "Good King Sauerkraut, look out! On your feets uneven."
Spike Milligan's recorded sketch "Good King Eccleslas" features a hilariously awful performance of the carol. Milligan did all the carolers as versions of his Goons character Eccles using multi-track recording.
On The Beatles' first Christmas flexidisc, sent to their UK fan club members in 1963, the group performed several brief renditions of the carol, in a variety of arrangements. At one point, John Lennon sang a humorous set of lyrics, mentioning several Hollywood stars. This recording was later included on The Beatles' Christmas Album - a compilation album of all seven fan club Christmas flexidiscs only officially available to members of its UK & US fan clubs in 1970 - but widely available ever since.
In the film Dragnet, Joe Friday (Dan Aykroyd) and Pep Streebek (Tom Hanks) sing the lyrics to this carol during a car chase.
Also in 1987, BBC Radio produced a comedy radio drama parodying the events recorded in the carol, entitled ''Crisp and Even, Brightly'' scripted by Alick Rowe and starring actor Timothy West as a grumpy and distinctly uncharitable King, which it has repeated on several subsequent years during Christmas week.
In the film Love Actually the Prime Minister David (Hugh Grant) sings the carol to some children who asked him after ringing the doorbell of their house while looking for Natalie (Martine McCutcheon).
In the cd "Pokémon Chistmas Bash" there's a pokémon version of the song which lyrics mentions a trainer called Steven using his Nidoking in a pokémon battle. At the end of the song, the trainer chooses Tentacruel.

Cover Versions

★ 1966 - Joan Baez - ''Noël''

★ 1974 - George Guest and The Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge - ''Christmas at St John's''

★ 1989 - R.E.M. - 1989 Holiday Fanclub single

★ 1995 - Loreena McKennitt - ''A Winter Garden''

★ 2004 - Tonus Peregrinus - ''The Naxos Book of Carols''

External links

★ Good King Wenceslas A public domain educational school play by Jan Křesadlo

★ Good King Wenceslas A witty whimsical version of the classic poem text in the Rhyme royal verse form, by Bob Newman (not to be confused with this one),(some of his other parodies here [1])