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. 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: O hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing! 3. All 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! 4. For lo! the days are hast'ning 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 splendors fling, And the whole world give back the song Which now the angels sing!
Lyrics: Edmund Hamilton Sears
Music: Richard Storrs Willis
Tune: CAROL
Meter: C.M.D.
Edmund H. Sears, 1810–1876
Edmund Sears graduated from Harvard Divinity School and spent most of his life in small pastorates in the East. He wrote this text in 1849, a time when the issues of slavery, the industrial revolution in the North, and the frantic gold rush in California were widely debated.
The peace of Christmas, proclaimed by the heavenly chorus, is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. “God was reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This message of reconciliation involves us on three different levels: peace with God, peace with our fellowmen, and peace within ourselves. It is this concept that Edmund Sears wanted to emphasize in this carol.