The Little Drummer Boy

There is so much good in The Little Drummer Boy that it is difficult to begin, knowing that so much must be left out. Just a little on the first verse, then.

"'Come,' they told me." Right away the description is dynamic. "They"--the 3 Kings?--are moving past, on their way. They don't stop, but call the boy to join them. There are two verbs: one is imperative in mood, present in tense. The second is the narrative past. The boy is describing a memory, but one that has a present imperative force. From the first word, the singer is drawn into the narrative.

Note the brief anglo-saxon words that say parr um pum pum pum before the drums even kick in. Come. pum. pum. pum."

A newborn king to see." This sounds weakest of the lines to modern ears, but this is probably because we've lost this usage of the infinitive, perhaps best called the infinitive of intention, or the infinitive of determination. "My true love for to see." It's easily understood, however."

Our finest gifts we bring/ To lay before the king." Again the multiple tenses add layers of dramatic tension to the song. "Bring" is a narrative present--not the narrative past of the drummer boy's present story, but the present of the travellers' past. "To lay"--a softer use of the infinitive of intention: "bring to lay" is the whole verb. We'd say that nowadays.

"So to honor him." The first four vowels are different sounds of the o. The linguistic effect is that of a piccolo, the tune as simple as do-re-mi-mi-mi. Any child could pick it out on the piano, but it's much more pretty to hear them sing.