It came upon the midnight clear,   [D]

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.

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 lonely plains

They bend on heavenly 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 angels' 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. 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 send back the song Which now the angels sing!