103.

No ear may hear His coming;
But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive Him, still
The dear Christ enters in.

Philips Brooks.

I.

IT

Peace on Earth.

T 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, goodwill to men,
From heaven's all-gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

C.M.D.

2. Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;

And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world.

But 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!

3. And ye, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the rugged way,

With painful steps and slow ;
Take heart! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;

O rest beside the weary road,

And hear the angels sing!

104.

I.

4. For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,

When, with the ever-circling years,
Comes round the age of gold ;-
When peace shall over all the earth
Its undimmed splendours fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which still the angels sing.

A THOUSAND years have come and gone,

And near a thousand more,

Since happier light from heaven shone

Than ever shone before;

And in the hearts of old and young

A joy most joyful stirred,

That sent such news from tongue to tongue

As ears had never heard.

2. And we are glad, and we will sing,
As in the days of yore!

Come all, and hearts made ready bring

To welcome back once more

The day when first on wintry earth

A summer change began,
And dawning in a lowly birth

Uprose the Light of man.

3. For trouble such as men must bear
From childhood to fourscore,

Christ shared with us, that we might share

His joy for evermore ;

And twice a thousand years of strife,

Of conflict, and of sin,

May tell how large the harvest-sheaf

His patient love shall win.

T. T. Lynch.

105.

The Voices of the Sky.

8.6.8.6.6.6.6.6.

I.

LOVELY Voices of the sky

That hymned the Saviour's birth!

Are ye not singing still on high,

Ye that sang "peace on earth"?
To us yet speak the strains
Wherewith, in days gone by,
Ye bless'd the Syrian swains,
O Voices of the sky!

2. O clear and shining Light, whose beams
A heavenly glory shed

Around the palms, and o'er the streams,
And on the shepherd's head!

Be near through life and death,
As in that holiest night

Of Hope, and Joy, and Faith,
O clear and shining Light !

Felicia D. Hemans.

106.

Christmas Day.

1. TO-DAY be joy in every heart,
For lo! the angel throng

2.

Once more above the listening earth
Repeats the advent song :

"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men !"

Before us goes the star

That leads us on to holier births

And life diviner far!

F

C.M.

3. Ye men of strife, forget to-day
Your harshness and your hate;
Too long ye stay the promised years
For which the nations wait!

4. And ye upon the tented field,

Sheathe, sheathe to-day the sword!
By love, and not by might, shall come
The kingdom of the Lord.

5. O star of human faith and hope!
Thy light shall lead us on,
Until it fades in morning's glow,
And heaven on earth is won.

All seated on the ground,

The angel of the Lord came down,

And glory shone around.

2. "Fear not," said he (for mighty dread
Had seized their troubled mind);
Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To you and all mankind.

3.

"To you, in David's town, this day

Is born of David's line

The Saviour, who is Christ the Lord;

And this shall be the sign.

4. "The heavenly Babe you there shall find
To human view displayed,

All meanly wrapt in swathing bands,
And in a manger laid."

C.M.

5. Thus spake the seraph; and forthwith
Appeared a shining throng

Of angels, praising God, and thus
Addressed their joyful song:

6. "All glory be to God on high,
And to the earth be peace;
Good-will henceforth from heaven to men
Begin, and never cease!"

Glory to God in the highest !
Glory to God!

Nahun Tate.

108.

I.

"WHAT

The Prince of Peace.

[AT means this glory round our feet,"

66

L.M.

The magi mused, more bright than

morn?"

And voices chanted clear and sweet,

"To-day the Prince of Peace is born."

2. "What means that star," the shepherds said, "That brightens through the rocky glen?" And angels, answering overhead,

Sang, "Peace on earth, good-will to men.”

3. 'Tis eighteen hundred years and more

Since those sweet oracles were dumb;
We wait for Him like them of yore;
Alas, He seems so slow to come.