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<h2>MUSIC ON CHRISTMAS MORNING.</h2>
<p>Music I love—but never strain<br/>
Could kindle raptures so divine,<br/>
So grief assuage, so conquer pain,<br/>
And rouse this pensive heart of mine—<br/>
As that we hear on Christmas morn,<br/>
Upon the wintry breezes borne.<br/>
<br/>
Though Darkness still her empire keep,<br/>
And hours must pass, ere morning break;<br/>
From troubled dreams, or slumbers deep,<br/>
That music KINDLY bids us wake:<br/>
It calls us, with an angel's voice,<br/>
To wake, and worship, and rejoice;<br/>
<br/>
To greet with joy the glorious morn,<br/>
Which angels welcomed long ago,<br/>
When our redeeming Lord was born,<br/>
To bring the light of Heaven below;<br/>
The Powers of Darkness to dispel,<br/>
And rescue Earth from Death and Hell.<br/>
<br/>
While listening to that sacred strain,<br/>
My raptured spirit soars on high;<br/>
I seem to hear those songs again<br/>
Resounding through the open sky,<br/>
That kindled such divine delight,<br/>
In those who watched their flocks by night.<br/>
<br/>
With them I celebrate His birth—<br/>
Glory to God, in highest Heaven,<br/>
Good-will to men, and peace on earth,<br/>
To us a Saviour-king is given;<br/>
Our God is come to claim His own,<br/>
And Satan's power is overthrown!<br/>
<br/>
A sinless God, for sinful men,<br/>
Descends to suffer and to bleed;<br/>
Hell MUST renounce its empire then;<br/>
The price is paid, the world is freed,<br/>
And Satan's self must now confess<br/>
That Christ has earned a RIGHT to bless:<br/>
<br/>
Now holy Peace may smile from heaven,<br/>
And heavenly Truth from earth shall spring:<br/>
The captive's galling bonds are riven,<br/>
For our Redeemer is our king;<br/>
And He that gave his blood for men<br/>
Will lead us home to God again.<br/></p>
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