People, Look East

People, look east. The time is near

Of the crowning of the year.

Make your house fair as you are able,

Trim the hearth and set the table.

People, look east and sing today:

Love, the Guest, is on the way.

Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,

One more seed is planted there:

Give up your strength the seed to nourish,

That in course the flower may flourish.

People, look east and sing today:

Love, the rose, is on the way.

Birds, though you long have ceased to build,

Guard the nest that must be filled.

Even the hour when wings are frozen

God for fledging time has chosen.

People, look east and sing today:

Love, the bird, is on the way.

Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim

One more light the bowl shall brim,

Shining beyond the frosty weather,

Bright as sun and moon together.

People, look east and sing today:

Love, the star, is on the way.

Angels, announce with shouts of mirth

Christ who brings new life to earth.

Set every peak and valley humming

With the word, the Lord is coming.

People, look east and sing today:

Love, the Lord, is on the way.

“People, Look East” is an Advent carol authored by Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965). She is best known for writing the hymn “Morning Has Broken” (#145 in The United Methodist Hymnal and popularized by Cat Stevens – now Yusuf Islam – in 1971).  The carol was first published in The Oxford Book of Carols (1928).  According to Michael Hawn of Perkins School of Theology, “Key images of the season are abundant. "People, Look East" is the direction of the rising sun and, in the history of Christianity, the direction of the coming Messiah. In stanza two, the bare earth is waiting for the seed that will flourish in the reign of the Promised One. In stanza three, the stars that guided the Magi shape the "bowl" of the heavens, giving signs of hope beyond "the frosty weather." The angels' song, in stanza four, sets "every peak and valley humming," an oblique reference to Isaiah 40:4, "Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low. . ."

It is a thoughtful hymn text that draws its imagery from a variety of Advent sources.  Put all together it is a wonderful piece that deserves more prominence in our Advent repertoire.