O little town of Bethlehem
You’ve heard the last Noël.
Along your tourist-trammelled streets
The gift shops sell and sell.
We hear few church bells peal, but tills
Ring in financial gain,
And God’s eternal holy light
Has just blown out again.
How silent are the carols now,
The Christmas message dim;
We celebrate that birthday though
We’ve half-forgotten Him.
Approaching guns are drowning out
The organ and the choir,
And planes, not stars are homing in
On minaret and spire.
You, little town of Bethlehem,
Who heard the first Noël,
For two millennia you wove
That now unmagicked spell,
Where once the angels' voices brought
Glad tidings of goodwill
And promises of peace on earth -
We’re waiting for it still!