Calm on the Listening Ear of Night

Verse 1

Calm on the listening ear of night
Come heaven’s melodious strains,
Where wild Judea stretches forth
Her silver-mantled plains;
Celestial choirs from courts above
Shed sacred glories there;
And angels, with their sparkling lyres,
Make music on the air.

Verse 2

The answering hills of Palestine
Send back the glad reply,
And greet from all their holy heights
The Day-spring from on high:
O’er the blue depths of Galilee
There comes a holier calm;
And Sharon waves in solemn praise
Her silent groves of palm.

Verse 3

“Glory to God!” the lofty strain
The realm of ether fills;
How sweeps the song of solemn joy
O’er Judah’s sacred hills!
”Glory to God!” the sounding skies
Loud with their anthems ring:
“Peace on the earth; good-will to men,
From heaven’s eternal King.”

Verse 4

This day shall Christian tongues be mute,
And Christian hearts be cold?
O catch the anthem that from heaven
O’er Judah’s mountains rolled;
When burst upon that listening night
The high and solemn lay,—
“Glory to God; on earth be peace:”
Salvation comes to-day.