Above the weary waiting world,
Asleep in chill despair,
There breaks a sound of joyous bells
Upon the [frosted]1 air.
And o'er the humblest rooftree, lo,
A star is dancing on the snow.

What makes the [yellow]2 star to dance
Upon the brink of night?
What makes the breaking dawn to glow
So magically bright, —
And all the earth to be renewed
With infinite beatitude?

The singing bells, the throbbing star,
The sunbeams on the snow,
And the awakening heart that leaps
New ecstasy to know, —
They all are dancing in the morn
Because a little child is born.