It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Words: Edmund Sears, 1849 · Tune "Carol," Richard Storrs Willis, 1850 · Public domain
Verse 1
GIt came Cupon the Gmidnight Dclear,
GThat Emglorious Csong of Dold,
CFrom Gangels Dbending Gnear the earth
DTo D7touch their harps of Ggold:
G'Peace on the Emearth, good will to men,
EmFrom Cheaven's Dall-gracious CKing.'
GThe world in Dsolemn D7stillness lay
D7To hear the angels Gsing.
Verse 2
GStill Cthrough the Gcloven skies Dthey come,
GWith Empeaceful Cwings Dunfurled,
CAnd Gstill their Dheavenly Gmusic floats
DO'er D7all the weary Gworld:
GAbove Emits sad and lowly plains
EmThey Cbend on Dhovering Cwing,
GAnd Dever o'er its babel D7sounds
D7The blessed angels Gsing.
Chords in the key of G
- G
- C
- D
- Em
- D7
About this hymn
- Words
- Edmund H. Sears, 1849
- Music
- CAROL, Richard Storrs Willis, tune composed 1850; the British tune is NOEL, adapted by Arthur Sullivan in 1874
- Meter
- 8.6.8.6 D (Common Meter Double)
- In
- 983 hymnals
- Scripture
- Luke 2:1-20, Isaiah 2:4, Psalm 46:8-10
The story
Edmund Sears was a Unitarian minister in Wayland, Massachusetts when he wrote this five stanza poem in 1849. It ran in a Boston paper that December. Read the words and you notice something odd for a carol. It barely mentions Bethlehem. Sears turned instead to his own time and its wars, and writers have tied that to the news he was living with, European revolutions and the recent war with Mexico. This was a dozen years before the Civil War. Richard Storrs Willis wrote the tune CAROL in 1850 at Sears's request, though the sources disagree on when tune and text were actually joined. In Britain they sing a different tune entirely.
Where it fits in a service
Often used in Advent and on Christmas Sunday, and it fits services that lean toward peace. The long double stanzas make it a good choice when the congregation is seated and listening.
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