Have you ever been caroling on a clear Christmas Eve, with
the stars shining all around? What a lovely sight.
At such a moment, it’s easy to picture the Bethlehem shepherds, shivering on a hillside outside Jerusalem, as the humongous choir of angels appeared to announce the birth of the Christ child.
At such a moment, it’s easy to picture the Bethlehem shepherds, shivering on a hillside outside Jerusalem, as the humongous choir of angels appeared to announce the birth of the Christ child.
Catch a peep at these well-known lyrics, penned in 1849 by
Edmund Sears, a Unitarian pastor in Wayland, Massachusetts.
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, goodwill to men,
From heaven's
all-gracious King."
The world in
solemn stillness lay,
To hear the
angels sing.
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 blessèd
angels sing.
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 love-song
which they bring;
O hush the
noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the
angels sing.
And 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!
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
splendors fling,
And the whole
world give back the song
Which now the
angels sing.
Many choirs, church congregations, and solo singers have
repeated these lines since they were written. Here’s a newer favorite version
of “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” as performed by Norah Jones.
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Image/s:
Star of Bethlehem
by Edward Burne-Jones
From: The Flower Book
From: The Flower Book
Circa 1890
Public Domain –
Copyright Expired
Merry Christmas Carol
Countdown
Art by Nickers and Ink
Creative Communications
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