Joseph dearest, Joseph mild
Help me rock my little Child
God will give you your reward in heav'n above
The Son of Virgin Mary

Gladly, dearest, Mary mine
I will rock your Kindelein
God will give me my reward in heav'n above
The Child of Virgin Mary

Lulla, lulla, lullaby
(Hum music for this line)
Lulla lulla, lullaby (Hum music to end of line)
The Son of Virgin Mary

Information

MIDI from An Online Christmas Songbook
sequenced by Christopher Baker
info from The Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook, 1981

"Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mild" is a lullaby that was sung by
the Virgin Mary in a Mystery Play that flourished around
Leipzig, Germany, in the early 1500s. The tune was originally
sung to a Latin text full of joy, "Resonet in Laudibus" (Let
Our Praises Resound), dating from as early as the 14th century.
Before that time, carols and other religious songs were danced
and sung to primitive tunes and graceless texts. But a new
awareness of beauty in worship swept through Europe in the
1500s, thanks in part to the Reformation, and melodies took
on an ingratiating texture, while texts issued from the pens
of genius poets.