Scripture Verse

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14

Introduction

Words: Emi­ly H. Mill­er, in The Shin­ing Ri­ver, ed­it­ed by Hen­ry S. Per­kins & Will­iam O. Per­kins (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Ol­iv­er Dit­son, 1875), page 25.

Music: Ano­ny­mous, 1875 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know the com­pos­er’s name, or have ac­cess to a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Emily H. Miller (1833–1913)

Lyrics

illustration

Ring out, mer­ry bells in the stee­ple,
Sing loud, hap­py voices, to­night.
And join with each kin­dred and peo­ple
In an­thems of praise and de­light!

Refrain

Good will from the Fa­ther ab­ove,
Good will to His child­ren be­low!
How glad was the morn
When the Sav­ior was born,
To ran­som our souls by His love!

Oh, na­tions that wait for the mor­row,
Rejoice! for the dawn is at hand!
Oh, cap­tives who pine in your sor­rows,
The Sav­ior shall se­ver your bands!

Refrain

The eyes of the blind shall be op­ened,
The King in His beau­ty to see;
The tongue of the dumb shall be loos­ened
To ut­ter its prais­es to Thee!

Refrain

Ring out, mer­ry bells in the stee­ple,
Ring loud, hap­py voic­es, to­night!
And join with each kin­dred and peo­ple
In an­thems of praise and de­light!

Refrain