They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.
THE TUNE.
No more sympathetic music has been written to these lines than “Carol,” the tune composed by Richard Storrs Willis, a brother of Nathaniel Parker Willis the poet, and son of Deacon Nathaniel Willis, the founder of the Youth's Companion. He was born Feb, 10, 1819, graduated at Yale in 1841, and followed literature as a profession. He was also a musician and composer. For many years he edited the N.Y. Musical World, and, besides contributing frequently to current literature, published Church Chorals and Choir Studies, Our Church Music and several other volumes on musical subjects. Died in Detroit, May 7, 1900.
The much-loved and constantly used advent psalm of Mr. Sears,—
Calm on the listening ear of night
Come heaven's melodious strains
Where wild Judea stretches far
Her silver-mantled plains,