History of Hymns: 'Before the Marvel of This Night'

“Before the Marvel of This Night”
by Jaroslav Vajda

Before the marvel of this night,
Adoring, fold your wings and bow,
Then tear the sky apart with light,
And with your news the world endow.
Proclaim the birth of Christ and peace,
That fear and death and sorrow cease:
Sing peace, sing peace, sing Gift of Peace,
Sing peace, sing Gift of Peace.
© 1981 Jaroslav J. Vajda. All rights reserved.

Lutheran minister Jaroslav Vajda (1919–2008) wrote this poem on January 1, 1979, responding to a request for an Advent or Epiphany song. His submission appeared in the 1981 edition of Christmas: An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art, published by Augsburg. Vajda notes: “One of the suggested themes was the angel song. But what could one possibly say in music that had not already been covered in the hundreds of extant Christmas carols and songs? I decided to conjecture how the hosts may have prepared and rehearsed that first Christmas song with a handful of shepherds as their audience” (Vajda, 1987, p. 146). The poem effectively unites the Nativity with Epiphany.

Because it was not composed for an existing meter, Vajda sent the text to long-time collaborator Carl Schalk (1929–2021), who composed a new tune for the text, MARVEL. It was published first as an anthem for choir and organ in 1982. The hymn version appears in Hymnal Supplement II (Carol Stream, Illinois, 1982), Hymnal Supplement 1991(1991), With One Voice (1995), Ritual Song (1996), Voices United (1996), and Glory to God (2013).

Stanza 1 captures the mystery of the heavenly chorus as they prepare to “Sing peace” and announce the birth of Christ— the “Gift of peace.” Vajda’s writing is not just descriptive, but it actively sparks the singer's imagination, creating an astonishing scene that suspends an eternal moment bridging earth and the heavenly cosmos. The final two lines of the stanza form a quasi-refrain during which the angels echo the word “Peace.” This technique fulfills the poet’s intent for the reader to actively engage with the text, envisioning the celestial scene and hearing the angels’ proclamation.

In stanza 2, Vajda calls the cosmic event into being with a series of imperative verbs: “Awake the sleeping world with song”; “Assemble here, celestial throng”; “Give earth a glimpse of heavenly bliss.” Line two quotes Psalm 188:24: “This is the day the Lord hath made,” recalling the first creation in Genesis 1 and 2 and juxtaposing the original creation narrative with the new creation taking place on this “marvelous” night. The refrain of stanza 2 echoes the word “bliss”— “endless bliss.”

The final stanza transcends two centuries in an eternal instant, reminding the singer that we join the cosmic chorus in singing. “Love”— “God is love.” In line 3, Vajda paraphrases a line from seventeenth-century poet Samuel Crossman’s Holy Week poem, “My song is love unknown”: “Love to the loveless shown / that they might lovely be.” Vajda rephrases Crossman’s memorable line: “Now to the loveless world be shown.” The quasi-refrain echoes the word “Love.”

The poet sparks our visual imaginations with numerous references to light, anticipating Epiphany. Stanza 1 includes a startling line: “Then tear the sky apart with light.” In stanza 2, the “celestial throng. . . give[s] earth a glimpse of heavenly bliss.” In the final stanza, the poet invokes Christ, “Our constant joy and endless light,” to “break upon [earth’s] deathly night.”

Carl P. Daw Jr. captures the essence of this poem: