When marshaled on the nightly plain,

The glittering host bestud the sky,

One star alone, of all the train,

Can fix the sinner’s wandering eye.

2 Hark! hark! to God the chorus breaks,

From every host, from every gem;

But one alone the Saviour speaks—

It is the Star of Bethlehem.

3 Once on the raging seas I rode;

The storm was loud, the night was dark,

The ocean yawned, and rudely blowed

The wind that tossed my foundering bark.

4 Deep horror then my vitals froze;

Death-struck, I ceased the tide to stem;

When suddenly a star arose—

It was the Star of Bethlehem.

5 It was my guide, my light, my all;

It bade my dark forebodings cease;

And through the storm and danger’s thrall,

It led me to the port of peace.

6 Now safely moored, my perils o’er,

I’ll sing, first in night’s diadem,

For ever, and for evermore,

The Star—the Star of Bethlehem.