It Came upon the Midnight Clear Lyrics Edmund H. Sears, 1849
4 verses, sung to Carol (8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6), public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace to the earth, good-will to men,
From heaven’s all gracious King:”
The earth in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
Verse 2. Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still celestial music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on heavenly wing,
And ever o’er its Babel sounds,
The blessed angels sing.
Verse 3. O ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way,
With painful steps and slow;—
Look up! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
Oh, rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!
Verse 4. 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 final splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing!
Words copied from The Otterbein Hymnal (1892). They were published in 1849, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
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The story behind It Came upon the Midnight Clear
Edmund Sears, the Unitarian pastor at Wayland, Massachusetts, published the poem without music in the Boston Christian Register on 29 December 1849. It ran five eight-line stanzas and carried only the initials E.H.S. The poem takes its theme from the angels' song in Luke 2:14, and it applies that message of peace to a world at strife. Hymnary.org notes that it never mentions Christ's birth directly. Hymnals usually print four stanzas, and the third is the one most often dropped. Sears added the poem to his Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life in 1875, where it introduced a Christmas Eve sermon. Richard Storrs Willis composed the tune CAROL, which first appeared in Church Chorals and Choir Studies in 1850 as a study set to a text by Philip Doddridge. Sources disagree on the first pairing with Sears's words. The Hymnology Archive finds it in a hymn book of 1874, and Hymnary.org says 1878. British hymnals often use a different tune, NOEL, which Arthur Sullivan adapted from an English folk melody. The Sarum Hymnal of 1868 altered the last stanza, and many later books copied the change. The Baptist Hymnal 1991 prints the carol in B flat.
Edmund H. Sears
1810-04-06 to 1876-01-14
Edmund Hamilton Sears was born at Sandisfield, Massachusetts, and graduated from Union College in 1834. He studied at the Harvard theological school and became pastor of the Unitarian church at Wayland in 1838. He later served at Lancaster and, from 1865, at Weston, Massachusetts. Ill health led him to retire from active ministry in 1847, though one source says he returned to Wayland that year. He wrote Regeneration in 1854 and Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life in 1875 and co-edited the Monthly Religious Magazine. Although a Unitarian, he held firmly to the divinity of Christ. He wrote It Came upon the Midnight Clear.
Richard Storrs Willis
1819-02-10 to 1900-05
Richard Storrs Willis was born in Boston, the brother of the writers Nathaniel Parker Willis and Fanny Fern. He studied at the Boston Latin School and Yale, where he belonged to Skull and Bones. He spent six years in Germany studying with Xavier Schnyder and Moritz Hauptmann and became a friend of Felix Mendelssohn. Back in New York he worked as a music critic for the Tribune and other papers and edited The Musical Times. He published Church Chorals and Choir Studies in 1850. It held the tune CAROL and the tune CRUSADERS' HYMN. Sources give 7 or 10 May 1900 as his death date.
- Hymnology Archive, It came upon the midnight clear , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, It Came Upon the Midnight Clear , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Baptist Hymnal 1991 No. 93 , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Edmund H. Sears , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in It Came upon the Midnight Clear
The Bible passages behind the words, with the verse of the hymn that draws on each.
- Luke 2:14 In verse 14 of the hymn
- Isaiah 2:4 In verse 4 of the hymn
- Psalm 46:8-10
- Revelation 21:1-6
It Came upon the Midnight Clear videos
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It Came Upon The Midnight Clear • Congregational Daniel Baptist, Congregation
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It Came upon the Midnight Clear The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Choir
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It Came Upon The Midnight Clear - A Cappella Hymn A Cappella Hymns, A cappella
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It Came Upon the Midnight Clear - Christmas piano instrumental with lyrics Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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It Came Upon The Midnight Clear | Christmas Lyric Video | Reawaken Hymns Reawaken Hymns, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Downloads, printing and slides
Sheet music files
- Sheet music PDF 101 KB. Words and all four parts, ready to print.
- Lead sheet PDF 89 KB. Melody, words and chord symbols for piano or guitar.
- MusicXML score XML 88 KB. Opens in MuseScore, Finale, Sibelius and Dorico to change the key or print parts.
- MIDI, all parts MIDI 2 KB. Plays the four-part harmony in any MIDI player or notation app.
- MIDI, melody only MIDI 1 KB. The tune alone, for learning it.
Practice tracks for each voice part, as MIDI: Alto , Tenor , Bass .
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in B♭.
Questions people ask
Who wrote It Came upon the Midnight Clear?
Edmund Sears, a Unitarian pastor in Wayland, Massachusetts, wrote it. It first appeared in the Christian Register on 29 December 1849.
What is It Came upon the Midnight Clear about?
It takes its theme from the angels' song in Luke 2:14 and applies the message of peace to a troubled world. Hymnary.org notes that it never mentions Christ's birth directly.
What tune is used for It Came upon the Midnight Clear?
American hymnals use CAROL by Richard Storrs Willis, from 1850. British hymnals often use NOEL, which Arthur Sullivan adapted from a folk melody.
Is It Came upon the Midnight Clear in the public domain?
The words are public domain in the United States. Sears published them in 1849, and Willis composed the tune in 1850.
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