Calm on the listening ear of night,

Come heaven’s melodious strains,

Where wild Judea stretches far

Her silver-mantled plains.

2 Celestial choirs, from courts above,

Shed sacred glories there,

And angels, with their sparkling lyres,

Make music on the air.

3 The answering hills of Palestine

Send back the glad reply;

And greet, from all their holy hights,

The day-spring from on high.

4 O’er the blue depths of Gallilee

There comes a holier calm,

And Sharon waves, in solemn praise,

Her silent groves of palm.

5 “Glory to God!” the sounding skies

Loud with their anthems ring—

“Peace to the earth, good will to men,

From heaven’s eternal King.”

6 Light on thy hill, Jerusalem!

The Saviour now is born!

And bright on Bethlehem’s joyous plains

Breaks the first Advent morn.