Proper Tune.

36.

E. J. HOPKINS.

1

BRIGHTEST and best of the sons of the morning!

Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid!

Star of the East, the horizon adorning,

Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid!

2 Cold on His cradle the dew-drops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him, in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Saviour of all.

3 Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
Odours of Edom and offerings divine?

Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?

4 Vainly we offer each ample oblation;

Vainly with gifts would His favour secure:
Richer by far is the heart's adoration;

Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

5 Brightest and best of the sons of the morning!
Dawn on our darkness, and lend us Thine aid!
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,

Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid!

Bishop Reginald Heber [1827].

Portsmouth.

39.

From the "Harmonia Perfecta," 1730.

1

HARK, the glad sound! the Saviour comes,

The Saviour promised long;

Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song!

2 He comes, the prisoners to release
In Satan's bondage held;

The gates of brass before Him burst,
The iron fetters yield.

3 He comes, from thickest films of vice
To clear the mental ray,

And on the eye-balls of the blind
To pour celestial day.

4 He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure,

And with the treasures of His grace
To enrich the humble poor.

5 Our glad Hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim,
And heaven's eternal arches ring
With thy beloved Name.

Philip Doddridge [1755].