The stars in the far-off heaven
Have long since struck eleven!
And hark! from temple and from tower,
Soundeth time's grandest midnight hour,
Blessed by the Saviour's birth,
And night putteth off the sable stole,
Symbol of sorrow and sign of dole,
For one with many a starry gem,
To honor the Babe of Bethlehem,
Who comes to men the King of them,
Yet comes without robe or diadem,
And all turn towards the holy east,
To hear the song of the Christmas feast.
Four thousand years earth waited,
Four thousand years men prayed,
Four thousand years the nations sighed,
That their King so long delayed.
The prophets told His coming,
The saintly for Him sighed,
And the star of the Babe of Bethlehem
Shone o'er them when they died.
Their faces towards the future,
They longed to hail the light
That in the after centuries
Would rise on Christmas night.
But still the Saviour tarried,
Within His father's home
And the nations wept and wondered why
The promised had not come.
At last earth's hope was granted,
And God was a child of earth;
And a thousand angels chanted
The lowly midnight birth.
Ah! Bethlehem was grander
That hour than Paradise;
And the light of earth that night eclipsed
The splendors of the skies.
Then let us sing the anthem
The angels once did sing;
Until the music of love and praise,
O'er whole wide world will ring.
Gloria in excelsis!
Sound the thrilling song;
In excelsis Deo!
Roll the hymn along.
Gloria in excelsis!
Let the heavens ring;
In excelsis Deo!
Welcome, new-born King
Gloria in excelsis!
Over the sea and land,
In excelsis Deo!
Chant the anthem grand.
Gloria in excelsis!
Let us all rejoice;
In excelsis Deo!
Lift each heart and voice.
Gloria in excelsis!
Swell the hymn on high;
In excelsis Deo!
Sound it to the sky.
Gloria in excelsis!
Sing it, sinful earth,
In excelsis Deo!
For the Saviour's birth.
Thus joyfully and victoriously,
Glad and ever so gloriously,
High as the heavens, wide as the earth,
Swelleth the hymn of the Saviour's birth.