This was one of the second wave of Christmas songs that I learned. Less like a lullaby than the carols I'd known practically from the cradle-- "Silent Night", "Away in the Manger." More intricate musically, and a more mature message in the lyrics. Which was mostly lost on me until I became familiar with the words beyond the first verse. I never cared much one way or another for it until I learned what we now know as the second verse...but is actually the third verse of this Christmas poem written by a Unitarian minister in Massachusetts in 1849 as part of his Christmas Eve message for his flock. I love the imagery here of the "cloven sky" and the "peaceful wings unfurled."
It crossed my mind to post the now-unused second verse here, but I thought that might be cheating. It does, however, contain the meat of the message of the song, so here it is:
Yet with the woes of sin and strife,
The world hath suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled,
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not,
The love song which they bring:
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing.
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
ReplyDeleteIt's very hard to answer these questions without cheating and peeking at the comments. This is from It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, a lovely song and one of my very favorite to sing. Looking forward to the next one.
ReplyDeleteHark the Herald Angels Sing?
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautifu verse and seems quite apropro to our times. :-) ---Robbie
And man, at war with man, hears not,
ReplyDeleteThe love song which they bring: I love this phrase
Where did you find the neat background? It came upon a midnnight clear.
ReplyDeleteI don't know this one off the top of my head, but it's beautiful...
ReplyDeleteI totally love Christmas songs, Lisa! I'd forgotten all about that one.
ReplyDeleteI love the new picture you have over there. Such a cool idea!
very nice and I like the new look you have here and new photo on the sidebar! You've been redecorating I see, and you did a great job!
ReplyDelete:-)
~JerseyGirl
http://journals.aol.com/cneinhorn/WonderGirl