While serving as the rector of an Episcopal church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1857, John Henry Hopkins Jr. composed We Three Kings for a college Christmas pageant. He designed it so that each piece could be sung as part of an all-male trio of singers. Originally titled “The Three Kings of Orient,” it’s also sometimes referred to as “The Quest of the Magi,” as it centers around the story of the biblical Magi visiting the nativity scene from the Gospel of Matthew.
The song details each of the three kings and each of their gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh, although today, the individual Magi’s solos are often not sung, preferring the chorus that sings of the beauty of the star of Bethlehem. Of our best known Christmas carols, We Three Kings is notable for having the closest musical similarity to Middle Eastern music that would have been popular at the time of the nativity.
Lyrics
We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a Deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, all men raising,
Worship Him God Most High.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia!, Alleluia!,
Peals through the Earth and skies.