Calm on the listening ear of night

Come heaven’s melodious strains,

Where wild Judea stretches far

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 answering hills of Palestine

Send back the glad reply;

And greet, from all their holy heights,

The dayspring 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 sounding skies

Loud with their anthems ring,

“Peace to the earth, good-will to men

From heaven’s Eternal King!”

Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!

The Saviour now is born!

And bright on Bethlehem’s joyous plains

Breaks the first Christmas morn.