Hymns and Tunes 1886 291
It came upon the midnight clear
Words: Edmund H. SearsMusic: Richard S. WillisTune: CarolC. M. D.
1It 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.
2Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly 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.
3But 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 cease, ye mortals, cease your strife,
And hear the angels sing!
- Words
- Edmund H. Sears
- Music
- Richard S. Willis
- Tune
- Carol
- Meter
- C. M. D.
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.6.8.6.8.7.8.6 · the hymnal prints C. M. D.
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 80% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCBDEFE
Could also be sung to Jerusalem, Ellacombe, Kingsfold, Mount Bethel, Varina · same meter and stresses; not printed with these words, so try it first.
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary · * a word sung short, as “heav’n”
Verse 1
Verse 2
Verse 3
Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.