Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Melody - Felix Mendelssohn

Charles Wesley, et. al

Hark! The herald angels sing
'Glory to the newborn King;'
Peace on earth and mercy mild;
God and sinners reconciled.'
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph in skies;
With angelic host proclaim,
'Christ is born in Bethlehem!'
Hark the herald angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King.'

2. Christ by highest heav'n adored,
Christ the everlasting Lord:
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail th'incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Immanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King.'
3. Hail the heav'n born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris'n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King.'

4. Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Oh, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart!
Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!
Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King!

This was written by Rev. Charles Wesley, the brother of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. He originally called it "Hark! How All the Welkin Rings." That was changed by George Whitefield in 1753 when he published it in a collection. He didn't like the word "welkin," which means "the vault of heaven." The melody comes from an 1840 cantata, "Festgesang no. 7" by German composer Felix Mendelssohn which was composed to celebrate the invention of printing. In 1857, William Cummings, organist of England's Waltham Abbey, discovered that the words fit Mendelssohn's melody (with a few minor adjustments). The composer was dead by that time. Thus the carol in the form we know today was completed nearly 120 years after the words were first written.