All Hail, Ye Little Martyr Flowers

All, hail ye little martyr flowers

Translator: Athelstan Riley; Author: Aurelius Clemens Prudentius
Tune: SARRATT (Ryley)
Published in 7 hymnals

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Representative Text

1. All hail, ye little martyr flowers,
Sweet rosebuds cut in dawning hours!
When Herod sought the Christ to find
Ye fell as bloom before the wind.

2. First victims of the martyr bands,
With crowns and palms in tender hands,
Around the very altar, gay
And innocent, ye seem to play.

3. What profited this great offense?
What use was Herod’s violence?
A babe survives that dreadful day,
And Christ is safely borne away.

4. All honor, laud, and glory be,
O Jesus, virgin born, to Thee;
All glory, as is ever meet
To Father and to Paraclete.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #99

Translator: Athelstan Riley

Riley, John Athelstan Laurie, M.A., s. of John Riley, Mytholmroyd, Yorks, was born in London, Aug. 10, 1858, and educated at Eton and at Pembroke College, Oxford (B.A. 1881, M.A. 1883). He has been since 1892 a member of the House of Laymen of the Province of Canterbury. He was one of the compilers of The English Hymnal, 1906, and contributed to it seven translations from the Latin (34, 185, 193, 195, 213, 242, 321, with No. 97 previously published), and one from the Greek, beginning, "What sweet of life endureth," from Iiola rod fiiov, p. 899, i., and the following originals:— 1. Come, let us join the Church above. Martyrs. 2. Saints of God! Lo, Jesu’s people. St. Bartholomew. The initials of the lines form the acrostic S… Go to person page >

Author: Aurelius Clemens Prudentius

Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, "The Christian Pindar" was born in northern Spain, a magistrate whose religious convictions came late in life. His subsequent sacred poems were literary and personal, not, like those of St. Ambrose, designed for singing. Selections from them soon entered the Mozarabic rite, however, and have since remained exquisite treasures of the Western churches. His Cathemerinon liber, Peristephanon, and Psychomachia were among the most widely read books of the Middle Ages. A concordance to his works was published by the Medieval Academy of America in 1932. There is a considerable literature on his works. --The Hymnal 1940 Companion… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: All, hail ye little martyr flowers
Title: All Hail, Ye Little Martyr Flowers
Author: Aurelius Clemens Prudentius
Translator: Athelstan Riley
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

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Media

The Cyber Hymnal #99
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Scripture Song Database #187

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The Cyber Hymnal #99

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