Lyrics to Angels we have heard on high
Song lyrics to ‘Angels we have heard on high’, translated from a traditional French carol (Les Anges dans Nos Campagnes); translated from French to English by James Chadwick (1862)
Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.
Refrain
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?
Refrain
Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ Whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
Refrain
See Him in a manger laid,
Whom the choirs of angels praise;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While our hearts in love we raise.
Refrain
An alternate translation, by George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934):
Shepherds in the field abiding,
Tell us when the seraph bright
Greeted you with wondrous tiding,
What you saw and heard that night.
Refrain
We beheld—it is no fable—
God incarnate, King of bliss,
Swathed and cradled in a stable,
And the angel strain was this:
Refrain
Choristers on high were singing
Jesus and His virgin birth,
Heavenly bells the while a-ringing
“Peace, good will to men on earth.”
Refrain
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