A thou­sand years have come and gone,
And near a thou­sand more,
Since hap­pier light from Hea­ven shone
Than ev­er shone before:
And in the hearts of old and young
A joy most joy­ful stirred,
That sent such news from tongue to tongue
As ears had ne­ver heard.

Then an­gels on their star­ry way
Felt bliss un­felt be­fore,
For news that men should be as they
To dark­ened earth they bore;
So toil­ing men and spi­rits bright
A first com­mun­ion had,
And in meek mer­cy’s ris­ing light
Were each ex­ceed­ing glad.

And we are glad, and we will sing,
As in the days of yore;
Come all, and hearts made rea­dy bring,
To wel­come back once more
The day when first on win­try earth
A sum­mer change began,
And, dawn­ing in a low­ly birth
Uprose the Light of man.

For trou­ble such as men must bear
From child­hood to four­score,
He shared with us, that we might share
His joy for­ev­er­more;
And twice a thou­sand years of grief
Of con­flict, and of sin,
May tell how large the har­vest-sheaf
His pa­tient love shall win.