Corpus Christi Carol is a Middle or Early Modern English hymn (or carol), first found by an apprentice grocer named Richard Hill in a manuscript written around 1504. The original writer of the carol remains anonymous.
The structure of the carol is seven stanzas, each with rhyming couplets. The use of seven stanzas possibly has religious significance. Seven is a number that is considered perfect, which would make sense as Christ is mentioned in the seventh stanza. The tense changes in the fifth stanza from past to present continuous.
Read more about Corpus Christi Carol: Meaning, In Music, Lyrics, Glossary
Famous quotes by corpus christi carol:
“By that bedes side ther kneleth a may,
And she wepeth both nyght and day.
And by that beddes side ther stondith a ston,
‘Corpus Christi’wretyn theron.”
—Unknown. Corpus Christi Carol (l. 11–14)