Many consider this song the first great American Christmas carol. If you think it is about Christmas only, think again, and read all the words (found in most any hymnal). I think you’ll agree that Reverend Sears was well acquainted with human suffering, and he longed in no small way for the eternal.
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.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long
Beneath the heavenly strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not the tidings which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing!
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!
Words by Rev. Edmund Hamilton Sears, music by Richard Storrs Willis, 1849
Leave a Reply