Hymn

Calm On the Listening Ear of Night

Metre 8.6.8.6

Calm on the list'ning ear of night

Come heav'n's melodious strains,

Where wild Judea stretches forth

Her silver-mantled plains;

Celestial choirs from courts above

Shed sacred glories there;

And angels, with their sparkling lyres,

Make music on the air.

The answ'ring hills of Palestine

Send back the glad reply,

And greet from all their holy heights

The Day-spring from on high:

O'er the blue depths of Galilee

There comes a holier calm,

And Sharon waves in solemn praise

Her silent groves of palm.

"Glory to God!" the lofty strain

The realm of ether fills;

How sweeps the song of solemn joy

O'er Judah's sacred hills!

"Glory to God!" the sounding skies

Loud with their anthems ring:

"Peace on the earth; good-will to men,"

From heav'n's eternal King.

This day shall Christian tongues be mute,

And Christian hearts be cold?

O catch the anthem that from heav'n

O'er Judah's mountains rolled.

When burst upon that list'ning night

The high and solemn lay,

"Glory to God; on earth be peace:"

Salvation comes today!

Calm On the Listening Ear of Night — Text from The New Christian Hymnal, 1929. Public domain. https://yeshuanow.com/hymns/calm-on-the-listening-ear-of-night

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Questions about this hymn

Who wrote Calm On the Listening Ear of Night?

The words of Calm On the Listening Ear of Night were written by Edmund H. Sears; the version here was published in 1929. The library also holds It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, another hymn by Edmund H. Sears.

Is Calm On the Listening Ear of Night public domain?

Yes. The words here are taken from The New Christian Hymnal, published in 1929. Works published before 1931 are out of copyright in the United States, so you can print, project, perform and record this hymn freely. How we source and check every hymn.

What is the metre of Calm On the Listening Ear of Night?

Calm On the Listening Ear of Night is in Common Metre (8.6.8.6). Hymns in the same metre can usually be sung to the same tunes — for example, Hark, the Glad Sound, Rejoicing in Hope and When musing sorrow weeps the past.