The time draws near the birth of Christ

  The time draws near the birth of Christ:
    The moon is hid; the night is still;
    The Christmas bells from hill to hill
Answer each other in the mist.

Four voices of four hamlets round,
    From far and near, on mead and moor,
    Swell out and fail, as if a door
Were shut between me and the sound:

Each voice four changes on the wind,
    That now dilate, and now decrease,
    Peace and goodwill, goodwill and peace,
Peace and goodwill, to all mankind.

This year I slept and woke with pain,
    I almost wish'd no more to wake,
    And that my hold on life would break
Before I heard those bells again:

But they my troubled spirit rule,
    For they controll'd me when a boy;
    They bring me sorrow touch'd with joy,
The merry merry bells of Yule.

by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) , no title, 1849, from In Memoriam A. H. H. obiit MDCCCXXXIII, no. 28, published 1850

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Ernst Bacon (1898-1990) , "Christmas Eve", published 1974, stanza 1. [voice and piano]
by Lady Baker , "The bells of yule", <<1892. [voice and piano]
by John Frederick Bridge (1844-1924) , "Christmas Bells", published 1869. [SATB chorus and piano]
by Florian , "The time draws near the birth of Christ", published 1861. [voice and piano]
by Robert Graham (1912-) , "The time draws near", published 1961. [SATB chorus and organ or piano]
by Craig Sellar Lang (1891?-1971) , "The time draws near the birth of Christ", published 1939. [SATB chorus with unison portions and organ]
by Edward Lear (1812-1888) , "The time draws near", published 1859. [voice and piano]
by Edward Woodall Naylor (1867-1934) , "The merry bells of Yule", published 1898. [SATB chorus with divisi a cappella]
by Alexander Reichardt (1825-1895) , "The birth of Christ", published 1890. [voices and piano]
by Walter Wild , "The time draws near", published 1935. [SATB chorus a cappella]
by David H. Williams (1919-) , "The time draws near", published 1955. [SATB chorus and organ]

Date added to the website: 2009-01-11.

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