Cântăre 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 Heav’n’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 heav’nly music floats

O’er all the weary world;

Above its sad and lowly plains,

They bend on hov’ring 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 love-song which they bring;

Oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife

And hear the angels sing.



4. 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.

Oh, rest beside the weary road,

And hear the angels sing!