Scripture Verse

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14

Introduction

portrait
James H. Fillmore, Sr. (1849–1936)

Words: Ma­rie R. But­ler, in Songs of Glo­ry, ed­it­ed by James Fill­more (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Fill­more Bro­thers, 1874), num­ber 98, alt. Or­ig­in­al first line: Al­most two thou­sand years have left.

Music: Cam­bridge­shire James H. Fill­more, Sr., 1874 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of But­ler (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Now o’er two thou­sand years have left
Their foot­prints on the earth,
Since Time first brought the gold­en day
Of our Re­deem­er’s birth;
And still we sing the Christ­mas song
The an­gels chant­ed then—
Our lips re­peat the ec­ho still
Of peace, good will to men.

The morn­ing stars for­ev­er sing
The an­gels’ Christ­mas song,
The sun­set dies at ev­en­ing with
No brood­ing thought of wrong;
Tho’ time should mark our way with tears
We’ll sing the song again,
As each re­turn­ing Christ­mas Eve
Brings peace, good will to men.