A CHRISTMAS CHANT.
FATHER RYAN.
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 toward 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 promise 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 splendour 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.
Glory in excelsis!
Sound the thrilling song;
In excelsis Deo!
Roll the hymn along.