Christmas Carols
Many Christmas carols mention the Annunciation to the shepherds, with the Gloria in Excelsis Deo being the most ancient. Phillips Brooks' O Little Town of Bethlehem (1867) has the lines "O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth, / And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth!" The originally German carol Silent Night has "Shepherds quake at the sight; / Glories stream from heaven afar, / Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!"
The episode plays a much greater role in Charles Wesley's Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (1739), which begins:
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Nahum Tate's well-known carol While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (1700) is entirely devoted to describing the Annunciation to the shepherds, and the episode is also significant in The First Nowell, Angels from the Realms of Glory, the originally French carol Angels We Have Heard on High, and several others.
The carol I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow during the American Civil War, reflects on the phrase "Peace on earth, good will to men" in a pacifist sense, as does It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.
Read more about this topic: Annunciation To The Shepherds
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