originally read
Universal nature say
Christ the Lord is born today.
And for our familiar first lines,
Hark! the herald angels sing!
Glory to the new-born King,
Wesley had
Hark! how all the welkin rings,
Glory to the King of Kings.
These, and other changes, disprove the common assertion that hymns should always be sung just as the authors left them. As a rule, however, it still remains true that “the professional hymn mender is an odious creature.”