1 Hark! what celestial notes, What melody, we hear! Soft on the morn it floats, And fills the ravished ear. The tuneful shell, The golden lyre, And vocal choir, The concert swell.
2 Angelic hosts descend, With harmony divine; See, how from heaven they bend, And in full chorus join! "Fear not," say they; Jesus, your King, "Great joy we bring: Is born to day."
3 "Glory to God on high! Ye mortals, spread the sound, And let your raptures fly To earth's remotest bound! For peace on earth, From God in heaven, To man is given, At Jesus' birth."
1 Hail, all hail the joyful morn: Tell it forth from earth to heaven, That to us a child is born, That to us a Son is given.
2 Angels, bending from the sky, Chanted, at the wondrous birth, "Glory be to God on high, Peace--good-will to man on earth."
3 Join we then our feeble lays To the chorus of the sky; And, in songs of grateful praise, Glory give to God on high.
1 Brightest and best of the sons of the morning, Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid; Star of the East,--the horizon adorning,-- Guide where the infant Redeemer is laid.
2 Cold on his cradle the dew-drops are shining; Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall; Angels bend o'er him, in slumber reclining,-- Monarch, Redeemer, Restorer of all.
3 Say, shall we yield him in costly devotion, Odors of Edom, and offerings divine? Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean, Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?
4 Vainly we offer each ample oblation, Vainly with gold would his favor secure; Richer by far is the heart's adoration, Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
5 Brightest and best of the sons of the morning, Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid; Star of the East,--the horizon adorning,-- Guide where the infant Redeemer is laid.
1 Arrayed in clouds of golden light, More bright than heaven's effulgent bow, Jehovah's angel came by night, To bless the sleeping world below. How soft the music of his tongue! How sweet the hallowed strains he sung!
2 Good-will henceforth to man be given, The light of glory beams on earth: Let angels tune the harps of heaven, And saints rejoice in Shiloh's birth; In him all nations shall be blest, And his shall be a glorious rest.