It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Verse 1:
It came upon a 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.

Verse 2:
Still through the cloven
Skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,

Verse 2:
And still their heavenly
Music floats
Over 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.

Verse 3:
Yet with the woes
Of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;

Verse 3:
Beneath the angel
Strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And men, at war with men, Hear not
The love song

Which they bring:
Oh, hush the noise,
Ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing.

Verse 4:
For lo! the days
Are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,

Verse 4:
When with the ever
Circling years,
Shall come the time foretold,
When the whole heaven
And earth shall own
The Prince of Peace
Their King,
And the whole world
Send back the song
Which now the angels sing.