Classic Poem

Midnight hour! how sweet the calm
Thy solemn cadences impart;
What solace as of healing balm
Cometh with thee unto this heart!
Yet bring me not thy grace alone—
Let others share thy dear delight;
Oh, let thy soothing monotone
Be heard of all this holy night!

Anon shall angels walk the sky,
The stars cry out in rapturous glee,
And radiant splendors glorify
The waking earth and wondering sea;
Jehovah's reassuring word
Shall be proclaimed abroad again,
And tidings everywhere be heard
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

'T is of those glories of the morn,
The sacrifice that makes man free,
And of the Babe in Bethlehem born
That midnight's voices speak to me.
Speak on, O voices sweet and low,
Soothing our griefs and doubts away—
That all mankind may hear and know
What rapture cometh with the day!