Hark, How All The Welkin Rings

1. HARK how all the Welkin rings
" Glory to the King of Kings,
" Peace on Earth, and Mercy mild,
" GOD and Sinners reconcil'd !

2. Joyful all ye Nations rise,
Join the Triumph of the Skies;
Universal Nature say,
" Christ the Lord is born to Day!

3. Christ, by highest Heav'n ador'd,
Christ, the Everlasting Lord,
Late in Time behold him come,
Offspring of a Virgin's Womb.

4. Veil'd in Flesh, the Godhead see,
Hail th' Incarnate Deity !
Pleas'd as Man with Men t'appear,
Jesus, our Immanuel here !

5. Hail the Heav'nly* Prince of Peace !
Hail the Sun of Righteousness !
Light and Life to All he brings,
Ris'n with Healing in his Wings.

    *Said to have been changed by the Wesleys to "heaven-born" in later editions. Copied by Whitefield in his 1758 edition and by Madan in his 1767 edition.

6. Mild he lays his Glory by ;
Born ; that Man no more may die,
Born ; to raise the Sons of Earth,
Born ; to give them Second Birth.

7. Come, Desire of Nations, come,
Fix in Us thy humble Home,
Rise, the Woman's Conqu'ring Seed,
Bruise in Us the Serpent's Head.

8. Now display thy saving Pow'r,
Ruin'd Nature now restore,
Now in Mystic Union join
Thine to Ours, and Ours to Thine.

9. Adam's likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp thy Image in its Place,
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy Love.

10. Let us Thee, tho' lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the Heav'nly* Man:
O ! to All Thyself impart,
Form'd in each Believing Heart.

    * or Inner in the 1739 edition according to some sources, and in G. Osborn, ed., The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley. Vol. 1 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1868), pp. 183-184. Their notes state that the verses they reproduced were identical to the 1739 edition, and "Reprinted from the originals with the last corrections of the authors."

See also the version and notes at the Duke Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Charles Wesley's Published Verse <http://www.divinity.duke.edu/wesleyan/texts/cw_published_verse.html>, accessed October 17, 2009.

Texts from John and Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred Poems. Fourth Edition.
(Bristol: Felix Farley, 1743), pp. 142-3.

Sheet Music from John Clark Hollister, ed., The Sunday-School Service and Tune Book (New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1863, 1865), #18, p. 37.

Sheet Music "Mendelssohn" from Henry Sloane Coffin and Ambrose White Vernon, eds., Hymns of the Kingdom of God. New York: The A. S. Barnes Company, 1910, #42, p. 78.
Meter: 77 77 D

Also found in Roundell Palmer, ed., The Book of Praise. Boston: Sever, Francis, & Co., 1870, # XXXIV, pp. 40-41.

Note from Palmer:

“The text is that of the fourth edition (1743) of Hymns and Sacred Poems, by John and Charles Wesley; differing in one word only (“Heavenly” instead of “Inner,” in the second line of the last stanza) from the first edition, published in 1739. The common variation, beginning “Hark, the herald angels sing,” is probably by Martin Madan (1760) who, besides altering several lines, has left out part (but no the whole) of the last two stanzas, which are usually omitted at the end of modern editions of the New Version of the Psalms. The word “welkin,” in the first line, is open to criticism, but in other respects I prefer Wesley's original to Madan's variation.”

Editor's Note: It appears that it was George Whitefield who in 1758 instituted changes to the first verse, and omission of verses eight and ten. Madan's earliest edition was apparently 1760. The changes made in the Madan edition of 1767 are noted below; the 1767 edition is the earliest that I have been able to see.

George Whitefield, ed., A Collection of Hymns for Social Worship. Seventh Edition. (London: William Strahan, 1758), Hymn 31, pp. 24-25. Changed verses (with changes in italics) include:

1. HARK! the Herald Angels sing
Glory to the new-born King !
Peace on Earth, and Mercy mild,
God and Sinners reconciled.

2. Joyful all ye Nations rise,
Join the Triumphs of the Skies;
Nature rise and worship him,
Who is born at Bethlehem.

5. Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace !
Hail the Sun of Righteousness !
Light and Life around he brings,
Ris'n with Healing in his Wings.

6. Mild he lays his Glory by ;
Born that Men no more may die,
Born to raise the Sons of Earth,
Born to give them second Birth.

7. Come, Desire of Nations, come,
Fix in Us thy heav'nly Home,
Rise the Woman's Conqu'ring Seed,
Bruise in Us the Serpent's Head.

9. Adam's likeness now efface,
Stamp thy Image in its Place,
Second Adam from above,
Work it in us by thy Love.

Editor's Note: Verses 8 and 10 above are omitted by Whitefield. Changes in punctuation and capitalization are ignored.

Martin Madan, ed., Collection of Psalms and Hymns. Fifth Edition With An Appendix (London: Henry Cook, 1767), Hymn #8, pp. 8-9. Changed verses (with changes in italics) include:

1. HARK! the Herald-Angels sing
Glory to the new-born King !
Peace on Earth, and Mercy mild,
God and Sinners reconciled.

2. Joyful all ye Nations rise,
Join the Triumphs of the Skies;
With th' angelic Host proclaim,
" Christ is born in Bethlehem!

3. Christ by highest Heav'n ador'd,
Christ the Everlasting Lord !
Late in Time behold him come,
Offspring of the Virgin's Womb.

5. Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace !
Hail the Sun of Righteousness !
Light and Life to all he brings,
Ris'n with Healing in his Wings !

9. Adam's likeness now efface,
Stamp thine Image in its Place,
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy Love.

Editor's Note: Verses 8 and 10 above are omitted by Madan as well. Since the earliest Madan edition appears to be 1760, it would appear that George Whitefield (in 1758) was the author of the changes to the first two lines of the first verse and Madan who made the changes to the third line of the second verse.

Changes in punctuation and capitalization are ignored.

Alternate fifth verse from John Clark Hollister, ed., The Sunday-School Service and Tune Book (New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1863, 1865), #18, p. 37. The lines are reversed from the original, where the last line becomes the first, the third line becomes the second, etc.:

5. Risen with healing in his wings,
Light and life to all he brings;
Hail the Sun of righteousness,
Hail the heaven-born Prince of peace.

Editor's Note:

The hymn underwent many changes from the time that Wesley first penned these words until the present day, including the changes by George Whitefield, Martin Madan, and at least three others.

We don't know what Charles Wesley thought about the many changes to his hymn, some of which were made during his lifetime, but his brother John had this to say in the Preface to the 1780 edition:

"Many gentlemen have done my brother and me (though without naming us) the honour to reprint many of our Hymns. Now they are perfectly welcome so to do, provided they print them just as they are. But I desire they would not attempt to mend them; for they really are not able. None of them is able to mend either the sense or the verse.

"Therefore, I must beg of them one of these two favours; either to let them stand just as they are, to take them for better for worse; or to add the true reading in the margin, or at the bottom of the page; that we may no longer be accountable either for the nonsense or for the doggerel of other men."