O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
Composed by Rector Phillips Brooks (1835-1903) of Philadelphia, who wrote the words to O Little Town of Bethlehem in 1868, following a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.