The Cyber Hymnal ‎#14121

14121. The Angel Chorus

1 On the wintry and lonely hillside,
All in the dim starlight,
Shepherds over the flock were keeping
Watch at the dead of night;
When swift angels of light came down,
And earth with hosannas rang;
Harps of gold and cherubic voices
Loudly and cheerly sang
At Bethlehem:

Refrain:
Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill to men.

2 Earth was wrapped in a robe of winter:
Kindly the new-fall’n snow
Drew the veil of a virgin whiteness
Pure over guilt and woe.
Beasts of prey on the frozen mountain,
Flocks on the charmèd plain,
Nature all, in entrancèd rapture,
Listened to that sweet strain
From Bethlehem: [Refrain]

3 Proudly marching along the forum,
Priests with a pompous train,
Closed the gates of the Roman Janus
Under a Cæsar’s reign.
Everywhere, and in every nation,
War, with its carnage grim,
Shouts and groans, and the roar of battle,
Ceased for the angel’s hymn
At Bethlehem: [Refrain]

4 Lo! each oracle of the heathen
Soon disenchanted proves:
Through the gloom of the dark Dodona,
Dumb are the oaken groves;
Dumb the voice of Apollo’s priestess,
Delphi is left forlorn;
All the realms of the demons tremble,
Knowing their Conqu’ror born
At Bethlehem: [Refrain]

5 Wide and wider at every Christmas
Echoes the joyful sound;
From Judea the glad good tidings
Now run the wide world round.
Sing, then sing, for the listening angels,
Bending on eager wing,
Join us now in the royal chorus
They were the first to sing
At Bethlehem: [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: On the wintry and lonely hillside
• Title: The Angel Chorus
• Author: Jared Bell Waterbury (1871)
• Refrain First Line: Glory to God in the highest,
• Language: English
• Source: Children's Praises by Julius Waterbury (New York/Rochester: Dewey and Pott/Young & Company, 1871)
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: [On the wintry and lonely hillside]
• Composer: Jared Bell Waterbury
• Key: G Major or modal
• Copyright: Public Domain