Author: Dr. Edmund Sears, 1810-1876 Hymnal: Methodist Hymn and Tune Book #118b (1917) Lyrics: 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 Yet 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 words of peace they bring:
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!
4 O ye, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way,
With painful steps and slow:
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!
5 For lo! the days are hastening on
By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendours fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing. Topics: Angels Song at Nativity; Christ Leading; Christmas Hymns; The Son Christmas; Nativity, the ; National Peace; Song Of the Angels; Peace On Earth; Peace National Languages: English Tune Title: BETHLEHEM
It came upon the midnight clear