We Three Kings 

We Three Kings is one of the most recognisable Epiphany carols in the English-speaking world and occupies a distinctive place within the Christmas repertoire as a work of known authorship. Unlike many traditional carols shaped gradually by oral transmission, We Three Kings was written in the mid-nineteenth century by John Henry Hopkins Jr., an American clergyman, poet, and musician. 

Hopkins was an Episcopal priest who served as rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He composed both the text and the melody around 1857 while simultaneously serving as music director at the General Theological Seminary in New York, initially giving his carol the title Three Kings of Orient. According to later accounts, the carol was written for a Christmas pageant, with different soloists taking the roles of the Magi and singing individual verses. This dramatic structure—each king presenting his gift and reflecting on its symbolic meaning—remains one of the carol’s most distinctive features and has contributed greatly to its enduring appeal.

The text draws on the biblical account in the Gospel of Matthew, elaborating imaginatively on the journey of the Magi and the significance of their gifts: gold for kingship, frankincense for divinity, and myrrh foreshadowing death and burial. Hopkins’s poetry is notable for its theological clarity and narrative economy, combining storytelling with doctrinal reflection in a way that suited nineteenth-century tastes for didactic yet expressive hymnody. The refrain, with its rising melody and star imagery, provides both musical contrast and a unifying focus for the song.

Musically, We Three Kings stands apart from many carols in its use of a minor mode, which lends the piece a sense of mystery and solemnity. This tonal choice aligns well with the theme of pilgrimage and revelation, and has often been remarked upon as one reason for the carol’s emotional power. The melody’s modal flavour also allowed it to sit comfortably alongside older carols, helping it to feel at home within established Christmas traditions despite its relatively recent origin.

The carol was first published in  Carols, Hymns, and Songs (1863), edited by Hopkins himself, and from there spread rapidly throughout the United States and Britain, where it was published in Christmas Carols Old and New and, later, in the 1928 Oxford Book of Carols. Its inclusion in influential hymnals and carol collections during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries ensured its place in church worship, school singing, and domestic music-making. In Britain in particular, We Three Kings became firmly associated with Epiphany services, lessons and carols, and seasonal concerts, even as it was increasingly sung throughout the wider Christmas season.

Over time, the carol has been arranged in countless ways, from simple unison settings to elaborate choral and orchestral versions. It has also crossed into popular culture, appearing in recordings, films, and school nativity plays. Despite these varied contexts, the core of Hopkins’s work remains intact: a carol that combines narrative drama, theological reflection, and memorable melody. We Three Kings stands as a striking example of how a nineteenth-century composition can enter the wider carol tradition, becoming, in practice and affection, as enduring as many much older songs.

We Three Kings is widely regarded as the most famous American Christmas carol, and remains the only American-written carol of known authorship to have become fully embedded in the traditional international carol repertoire.  

Lyrics