Christ — First Advent
It came upon the midnight clear
- No. 291
- Metre C. M. D.
- Tune CAROL.
- Words Edmund H. Sears.
- Music Richard S. Willis.
- Key B-flat major
- Singing key B♭ major
- Time 6/8
- 3 stanzas
Words
⤢ Full screenIt came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold;
"Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven's all-gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.
But with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love song which they bring:
O cease, ye mortals, cease your strife,
And hear the angels sing!
About this hymn
As printed As printed: running head «CHRIST—FIRST ADVENT.»; hymn number «291» (large), tune name «CAROL. C. M. D.» centred over the music (condensed capitals; the «D.» in a smaller size), «RICHARD S. WILLIS.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear, one line per system, with «1.» before «It»: system 1 = verse lines 1–2, system 2 = lines 3–4, system 3 = lines 5–6; lines 7–8 are printed in italics as a second line under system 2, preceded by «D. S.—», and are sung there after the «D. S.» at the end of system 3 (the music returns to the segno at the start of system 2 and ends at «Fine.»). Stanza 1 below is assembled in the order sung. The opening quote of line 5 is printed «''Peace» and the closing one «King.''»; quotes and apostrophes are written straight. «heaven'sall» is set without a space under the staves. The italic reference line «484, 83, 450.» (= the same words may be sung to the tunes of hymns 484, 83 or 450) stands under the music; stanzas 2–3 follow as text in the left column, numbered «2», «3», with «Edmund H. Sears.» in italics after stanza 3. Lines 2, 4, 6, 8 of each stanza are indented in the print. The print sets a thin space before «;», «:» and «!» («unfurled ;», «world :», «sing !»); it is closed up here. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's.
- Source
- The Seventh-day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book (Battle Creek: Review & Herald, 1886/1888)
- Where
- Christ — First Advent · No. 291 · printed page 95
- Checked
- score verified (fork reading; parent check pending) · 2026-10-01
