CHRISTMAS.
O holy, happy morning,
That saw the Saviour’s birth!
The star, thy brow adorning,
Beams mercy on the earth;—
For shepherds, and for sages,
Thy cheer, impartial, free,—
The travail of the Ages
Finds recompense in thee.
My soul, be thou believing,—
No more thy past deplore;
In Christ, all loss retrieving,
Rejoice forevermore.
By love unknown attended,
Thy weary watch and ward:—
Behold the vision splendid!
The angel of the Lord!
And hark! the herald angel!
The radiant, rapturous throng!
The ravishing evangel
Floods all the hills with song:—
“To God, in heaven, glory;
Good will to men, below;—”
Speed, speed the blessed story,
That all the world may know.
Repeat it softly, slowly;
For still, in hut and hall,
Are lonely hearts and lowly,
That hunger for it all.
Again, again the story,—
Till sin and sorrow cease:
“To God, the Father, glory,
And to His children, peace.”