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 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

Yet with te woes of sin and strife
The world hath 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 hush the noise, ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing
For lo! the days are hastening on
By prophet bards foretold
When, with the ever-circling years
Shall come the Age of Gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling
And all the world give back the song
Which now the angels sing