The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book ‎#291

291. It came upon the midnight clear

1 It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold;
"Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven's all-gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

2 Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

3 But with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The loves song which they bring:
O cease, ye mortals, cease your strife,
And hear the angels sing!

Text Information

• First Line: It came upon the midnight clear
• Author: Edmund H. Sears
• Publication Date: 1886
• Topic: Christ: First Advent

Tune Information

• Name: CAROL
• Composer: Richard S. Willis
• Meter: C. M. D.
• Key: B♭ Major
• Notes: Alternate tunes: #484, 83, or 450.