Calm on the Listening Ear of Night

Melody - "St. Agnes," John Bacchus Dykes, 1866,
Melody 2 - "Bethlehem", an alternate melody

Edmund Hamilton Sears, 1834

Calm on the listening ear of night
Come heaven's melodious strains,
Where wild Judea stretch'ed 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 heights,
The Dayspring from on high.

4. O'er the blue depths of Galilee
There comes a holier calm,
And Sharon waves, in solemn praise,
Her silent groves of palm.

5. "Glory to God!" the lofty strain
The realm of ether fills;
How sweeps the song of solemn joy
O'er Judah's sacred hills!

6. "Glory to God!" the sounding skies
Loud with their anthems ring,
"Peace to the earth, good will to men,
From heaven's eternal King!"

7. Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!
The Saviour now is born:
More bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains
Breaks the first Christmas morn.

8. This day shall Christian tongues be mute,
And Christian hearts be cold?
O catch the anthem that from heaven
O'er Judah's mountains rolled.

9. When burst upon that listening night
The high and solemn lay,
"Glory to God; on earth be peace."
Salvation comes today.

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