Calm on the listening ear of night
Come heaven's melodious strains,
Where wild Judah 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 a 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 on earth-- good-will to men
From Heaven's Eternal King."
Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!
The Savior now is born!
More bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains
Breaks the first Christmas morn;
And brighter on Moriah's brow,
Crowned with her temple spires,
Which first proclaims the newborn light,
Clothed with its orient fires.
This day shall Christian tongues be mute,
And Christian hearts be cold?
O catch the anthems that from heaven
O'er Judah's mountains rolled.
When nightly burst from seraph harps
The high and solemn lay,--
"Glory to God; on earth be peace:
Salvation comes today!"
~ E. H. Sears
~ E. H. Sears
