1 In the field with their flocks abiding,
They lay on the dewy ground;
And glimm'ring under the starlight,
The sheep lay white around,
When the light of the Lord stream'd o'er them,
And lo! from the heaven above,
An angel leaned from the glory
And sang his song of love;
He sang, that first sweet Christmas,
The song that shall never cease.
Chorus:
"Glory to God in the highest,
On earth good will and peace."
2 "To you in the city of David
A Saviour is born to-day!"
And sudden a host of the heavenly ones
Flash'd forth to join the lay!
O never hath sweeter message
Thrill'd home to the souls of men,
And the heav'ns themselves had never heard
A gladder choir till then,
For they sang that Christmas Carol,
That never on earth shall cease, [Refrain]
3 And the shepherds came to the manger,
And gaz'd on the Holy Child;
And calmly o'er that rude cradle
The Virgin Mother smiled;
And the sky in the star-lit silence,
Seemed full of the angel lay;
"To you in the city of David
A Saviour is born to-day;"
O they sang, and I ween that never
The carol on earth shall cease, [Refrain]
Source: The Church Hymnal: containing hymns approved and set forth by the general conventions of 1892 and 1916; together with hymns for the use of guilds and brotherhoods, and for special occasions (Rev. ed) #664
Farrar, Frederic William, D.D., son of the Rev. Charles Penhorn Farrar, sometime a missionary in India, and late Rector of Sidcup, Kent. He was born at Bombay, Aug. 7th, 1831; and educated at King William's College, Isle of Man, and at King's College, London. In 1850 he obtained a classical exhibition, and in 1852 a scholarship at the University of London, whence, after taking the degree of B.A., he passed to Trinity College, Cambridge. There, in 1852, he took (with other prizes) the Chancellor's Prize in English verse, and graduated in first-class classical honours in 1854. In the same year he entered Holy Orders, and was subsequently for some time an assistant master at Harrow School. In 1871 he was appointed to the head mastership of Mar… Go to person page >
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