Herdsmen keep­ing lone­ly vi­gil
While the earth in slum­ber lay;
Eager scanned the far ho­ri­zon,
For the com­ing of the day;
And a blaze of hea­ven­ly light,
Rent the cur­tains of the night.

Never shone a morn so ra­di­ant
Since cre­ation had its birth,
And the orb of day in full­ness
Shed its prim­al light on earth,
And the morn­ing stars abroad,
Triumphed with the sons of God.

Stay your com­ing, dawn and sun­rise,
For a Sun of high re­nown
Pours His light upon our dark­ness,
And this Orb shall ne’er go down;
Now Im­ma­nu­el, Christ our Lord,
Dwells on earth, in­car­nate Word.

Lift your eyes, ye lone­ly watch­ers,
See the host in rai­ment white;
List, the strains of hea­ven­ly mu­sic
Mingling with tran­scen­dent light;
Ne’er such mu­sic waked a morn;
Sons of men! the Christ is born.

Weary hearts that dwell in dark­ness!
Cast your dis­mal fears away;
Lo, the Sun on earth is shin­ing,
For the morn has ris­en to­day,
And the light that hailed His birth,
Pours its glo­ry on the earth.