The Hymnal Of The Protestant Episcopal Church In The Usa

By Various

Christmas 84. Calm on the listening ear of night

C.M.

[301]St. Agnes:

John Bacchus Dykes, 1866

Edmund H. Sears, 1834

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 Savior now is born:

More bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains

Breaks the first Christmas morn.