When will this sad world rejoice,
Listening to that golden voice
Speaking unto men?
Lives there one who yet shall cry
Loud to startled passers-by—
‘Christ has come again?’
List the answer—Christ is here!
Seek and you shall find him near—
Dwelling on the earth.
By the world’s awakened thought,
This great miracle is wrought,
This the second birth.
While you wonder where and now
Christ shall come—behold him now,
Patient, loving, meek.
Looking from your neighbour’s eyes,
Or in humble toiling guise—
Lo! the Christ you seek.
Look for him in human hearts,
In the shops, and in the marts,
And beside your hearth.
Search and speak the watchword Love,
And the Christ shall rise and prove
He has come to earth.
Sorrowful ofttimes is He
That we have not eyes to see,
Have not ears to hear,
As we call to Him afar,
Out beyond some distant star,
While He stands so near.
Seek Him, seek Him, where He dwells,
Chime the voices of the bells
On the Christmas air.
Christ has come to earth again,
He is in the hearts of men,
Seek and find him there.
Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press