It Came Upon the Midnight Clear facts for kids
Quick facts for kids It Came Upon the Midnight Clear |
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The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, 1634, by Rembrandt
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| Genre | Christmas carol |
| Written | 1849 |
| Text | Edmund Sears |
| Based on | Luke 2:14 |
| Meter | 8.6.8.6 (CMD) |
| Melody | "Carol", by Richard Storrs Willis, or "Noel", adapted by Arthur Sullivan |
"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" is a famous Christmas carol. It started as a poem written in 1849 by Edmund Sears. He was a pastor from Wayland, Massachusetts, in the United States. In 1850, a tune called "Carol" was written for the poem by Richard Storrs Willis. This tune is very popular in the United States. In other countries, like those in the Commonwealth, the carol is often sung to a different tune called "Noel". This tune was adapted by Arthur Sullivan.
History of the Carol
Edmund Sears wrote this five-verse poem in 1849. It first appeared in a newspaper called The Christian Register in Boston, Massachusetts. This was on December 29, 1849.
Sears was a pastor in Wayland, Massachusetts. He later moved to a bigger church in Lancaster. After some years, he felt very sad and returned to Wayland. He wrote "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" while working as a part-time preacher there.
Sears wrote the poem during a difficult time for him. He was also thinking about wars happening in Europe and the Mexican–American War in the United States. He felt the world was full of "sin and strife" and not listening to the peaceful Christmas message.
It is believed that Sears wrote the poem for his friend, William Parsons Lunt. Lunt was a pastor in Quincy and needed something for his Sunday school. Some say the carol was first sung by people gathered at Sears' home on Christmas Eve. However, the well-known tune by Willis was not written until the next year.
Many people believe Sears' song is special because it focuses on his own time. It talks about the important topic of war and peace. Since it was written in 1849, it is thought to be his reaction to the Mexican-American War, which had just ended. Many singers have included this song on their Christmas albums.
Carol Melodies
In 1850, Richard Storrs Willis wrote the melody called "Carol". He was a composer who studied with Felix Mendelssohn. This tune is usually played in the key of B-flat major. It has a 6/8 time signature, which means it has a flowing, gentle rhythm. "Carol" is still the most popular tune for the song in the United States.
<score sound="1"> \new Staff << \clef treble \key bes \major { \time 6/8 \partial 8 \relative f' { f8 | d'4 a8 c bes g | f4 g8 f4 f8 | g a bes bes c d | c4.~ c4 \bar"" \break f,8 | d'4 a8 c bes g | f4 g8 f4 f8 | g4 g8 a g f | bes4.~ bes4 \bar"" \break d8 | d4 d,8 d e fis | g4 a8 bes4 d8 | c bes a g a g | f4.~ f4 \bar"" \break f8 | d'4 a8 c bes g | f4 g8 f4 f8 | g4 g8 a g f | bes4.~ bes4 \bar"|." %repeat of the second line - if these two aren't the same, then it means somebody has vandalized ... } } %\new Lyrics \lyricmode { %} >> \layout { indent = #0 } \midi { \tempo 4. = 54 } </score>
In Commonwealth countries, the tune called "Noel" is usually used. This tune was adapted in 1874 by Arthur Sullivan from an English melody. This tune is also an option in The Hymnal 1982. This is a songbook used by the Episcopal Church in the United States.
<score sound="1"> \new Staff << \clef treble \key f \major { \time 4/4 \partial 4 \relative f' { f8 g | a4 g f g8 a | bes4 a g c | c a bes8 c d4 | c2. \bar"" \break a8 bes | c4 c a f | bes a g f8 g | a bes c4 a g | f2. \bar"" \break f4 | e d e g | f4. e8 d4 a' | g f e d | c2. \bar"" \break c4 | c' bes a g8 a | bes4 a g f8 g | a bes c4 a g | f2. \bar"|." } } %\new Lyrics \lyricmode { %} >> \layout { indent = #0 } \midi { \tempo 4 = 86 } </score>
Lyrics of the Song
The complete song has five verses, or stanzas. Some versions of the carol, like those in United Methodist Hymnal, leave out the third verse. Other versions, such as The Hymnal 1982, leave out the fourth verse. There are also a few small changes to Sears' original words in some versions.
It 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; –
Oh hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!
And ye, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing; –
Oh, rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing!
For lo! the days are hastening on
By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When Peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.—Sears, Edmund H. (Edmund Hamilton), Library of Congess and The Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/sermonssongsofch00sear/page/16/mode/2up
