Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:14
Words: Jennie Wayne, 1891, alt.
Music: Pluma M. Brown (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Wayne or Brown (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
The song the herald angels sang,
O’er Bethlehem’s starlit plain,
Still echoes in the heart of man,
A gladsome sweet refrain,
A gladsome sweet refrain.
Peace, peace on earth, good will to men,
Our Father reigns supreme,
And love fills all the universe,
Evil is but a dream.
Thro’ all these long millennia,
This song of peace and love,
Has breathed its balm of blessing,
And hovered like a dove,
And hovered like a dove.
Above the restless pulse of man,
Bidding his passions cease,
Till war and strife are ended,
And nations dwell in peace.
Thro’ all the ages yet to come,
’Twill whisper sweet and low,
If man but love his brother man,
’Tis Heav’n begun below,
’Tis Heav’n begun below.
And so with song and radiance,
The way will grow more bright,
Till the star that shines o’er Bethlehem,
Fills all the world with light.