Infant_Holy,_Infant_Lowly
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
Polish Christmas carol
W Żłobie Leży ("In the Manger He Lies") is a traditional Polish Christmas carol. In 1920, the song was translated into English as "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly" by Edith Margaret Gellibrand Reed (1885-1933), a British musician and playwright.[1] Reed found the carol in the hymnal Spiewniczek Piesni Koscieline (published 1908), though the song itself may date back as far as the thirteenth century.[2] The Polish text could possibly be attributed to Piotr Skarga (1536-1612).
The carol’s melody refers to the coronation polonaise of the Polish king, Władysław IV Waza.
Its rhythm resembles that of the polonaise, one of the Polish national dances popularized, among others, by Frédéric Chopin.[3] The short, rhymed phrases lead to a crescendo in each stanza's final lines: "Christ the babe is lord of all, Christ the babe was born for you!"[4]