Hymn
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
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 heaven's all-gracious King":
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
Still thro' the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heav'nly music floats
O'er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains
they bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.
And 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.
For lo, the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace their King,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.
Amen.
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear — Text from The Hymnal and Order of Service, 1926. Public domain. https://yeshuanow.com/hymns/it-came-upon-the-midnight-clear
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Questions about this hymn
Who wrote It Came Upon the Midnight Clear?
The words of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear were written by Edmund H. Sears; the version here was published in 1926. The library also holds Calm On the Listening Ear of Night, another hymn by Edmund H. Sears.
Is It Came Upon the Midnight Clear public domain?
Yes. The words here are taken from The Hymnal and Order of Service, published in 1926. 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 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear?
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear is in Common Metre Double (8.6.8.6 D). Hymns in the same metre can usually be sung to the same tunes — for example, I've Found the Pearl of Greatest Price!, The Half Has Never Yet Been Told and The Son of God goes forth to war.