Keep time, keep time, glad Christmas chime!
Loud, louder sing thy song sublime;
Ne’er half enough can e’er be told
Of that dear story, sweet and old.
Hark, men and women — children, too —
List to the wondrous tale anew,
How long ago, in land afar,
The shepherds saw the shining star;
Heard echoed strains of harp and lyre
Attuned to thrill of angel choir.
Keep time, keep time, wild, joyful chime!
Bid every heart keep Christmas time —
Let there be none so worn and weary,
Let there be none so lone and dreary,
That thy rich music may not fill
With happiness and fond good-will:
With just a bit of hope and cheer,
A firmer trust in heaven near,
A sense of sacred, new-found rest,
That Jesus sleeps on Mary’s breast.
Keep time, keep time, blest Christmas chime!
Repeat thy message true, sublime,
Unto the mighty, to the lowly,
Unto the sinner, to the holy:
Bid them live on in gentle peace,
Their strife and hatred all to cease;
And bid them come, not, as of old,
With frankincense, myrrh, gems and gold,
But with the nobler — love’s own proffer —
Unto their God their hearts to offer.
