We Three Kings of Orient Are

Originally written by John Henry Hopkins Jr. in 1857. Latin adaptation by Dylan Schrader.

We Three Kings of Orient are,
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain,
Moor and mountain,
Following yonder Star. 		Orientis reges sumus:
Tres cum donis transivimus
Agrum, fontem,
Campum, montem:
Post stellam pergimus.
O Star of Wonder, Star of Night,
Star with Royal Beauty bright,
Westward leading,
Still proceeding,
Guide us to Thy perfect Light. 		O stella mira, stella quae
Nobili cum lumine
Usque Lucem
Sis in ducem
Occidentis tramite.
Born a King on Bethlehem plain,
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King for ever,
Ceasing never
Over us all to reign. 		Bethlehem in terra nato
Coronando aurum fero,
Regi semper
Et pro semper,
Omnium Domino.
Frankincense to offer have I,
Incense owns a Deity nigh:
Prayer and praising
All men raising,
Worship Him God on High. 		Et incensum dabo Ei:
Thus debetur Deitati:
Collaudandum
Et orandum
Deum decet coli.
Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;—
Sorrowing, sighing,
Bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb. 		Et acerbam myrrham porto,
Omen viro doloroso:
Cum cruore
Et maerore
Clauditur tumulo.
Glorious now behold Him arise,
King, and God, and Sacrifice;
Heav’n sings Halle-
-lujah: Halle-
-lujah the earth replies. 		Surgens, ecce, cum gloria
Deus, Rex, et Hostia,
Caelum canens,
Et respondens
Tellus, “Alleluia.”