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b'Today, we\'re going to hear the story behind the beautiful Christmas carol, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear."
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\\nWritten in 1849 by Edmund Hamilton Sears, a Unitarian minister, this was the second of two "twin" carols. (Listen to the show for more.)
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\\nLyrics
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\\n"It Came Upon A Midnight Clear"
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\\nIt came upon the midnight clear,
\\nThat glorious song of old,
\\nFrom angels bending near the earth,
\\nTo touch their harps of gold:
\\n"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
\\nFrom heavens all gracious King!"
\\nThe world in solemn stillness lay
\\nTo hear the angels sing.
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\\nStill through the cloven skies they come,
\\nWith peaceful wings unfurled;
\\nAnd still their heavenly music floats
\\nO\'er all the weary world:
\\nAbove its sad and lowly plains
\\nThey bend on hovering wing,
\\nAnd ever o\'er its Babel sounds
\\nThe blessed angels sing.
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\\nO ye beneath life\'s crushing load,
\\nWhose forms are bending low,
\\nWho toil along the climbing way
\\nWith painful steps and slow;
\\nLook now, for glad and golden hours
\\nCome swiftly on the wing;
\\nOh rest beside the weary road
\\nAnd hear the angels sing.
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\\nFor lo! the days are hastening on,
\\nBy prophets seen of old,
\\nWhen with the ever-circling years
\\nShall come the time foretold,
\\nWhen the new heaven and earth shall own
\\nThe Prince of Peace, their King,
\\nAnd the whole world send back the song
\\nWhich now the angels sing.
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\\n"Calm On The Listening Ear"
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\\nCalm on the listening ear of night
\\nCome heaven\'s melodious strains,
\\nWhere wild Judea stretches far
\\nHer silver mantled plains.
\\nCelestial choirs from courts above
\\nShed sacred glories there,
\\nAnd angels, with their sparkling lyres,
\\nMake music on the air.
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\\nArtists On This Show
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\\nLondon Fox Players & Tim Mather
\\n "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" (mp3)
\\nfrom "20 Peaceful Christmas Favorites"
\\n(Classic Fox Records)
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\\n Buy at Rhapsody
\\n Buy at Napster
\\n More On This Album
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\\nBenjamin
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\\n '