Words: Fourteenth-century German/Latin macaronic carol Nun singet und seid froh by Heinrich Suso This translation by John Wedderburn, About 1567 See Good Christian Men, Rejoice, and these notes. Source: Edith Rickert, Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400-1700 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1914), pp. 206-7.
1. Now let us sing with mirth and joy, Our heart's consolation Lies in præsepio, And shines as the sun, Matris in gremio. Alpha is and O, Alpha is and O. O Jesu parvule, I thirst sore after Thee, Comfort my heart and mind, I Puer optime!
2. God of all grace so king, Et Princeps Gloriæ, Trabe me post Te, Trabe me post Te. Ubi sunt gaudia; In any place but there Where that the angels sing, Nova cantica, But and the bells ring, In Regis curia. God if I were there, God if I were there!