Text by Phillips Brooks
O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary,
and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together,
proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King,
and peace to men on earth!
How silently, how silently,
the wondrous Gift is giv´n;
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of His Heav´n.
No ear may hear His coming,
but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him
still, the dear Christ enters in.
Where children pure and happy
pray to the blesséd Child,
Where misery cries out to Thee,
Son of the mother mild;
Where charity stands watching
and faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
and Christmas comes once more.
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel!
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" è un canto natalizio basato su un testo del 1868 scritto dal sacerdote di Filadelfia Phillips Brooks. Il canto è popolare sia in America sia in Europa, ma con melodie diverse: negli Stati Uniti e in Canada, con "St. Louis", composto dal collaboratore di Brooks, Lewis Redner ; e nel Regno Unito e in Irlanda con "Forest Green", una melodia adattata ad opera di Ralph Vaughan Williams da una ballata folk inglese, "The Ploughboy's Dream", e pubblicata nel1906 .
