People Look East

People, Look East

1     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.

2    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 flow'r may flourish.
    People, look east, and sing today—
    Love, the Rose, is on the way.

3    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.

4    Angels announce with shouts of mirth
    him who brings new life to earth.
    Set ev'ry peak and valley humming
    with the word, the Lord is coming.
    People, look east, and sing today—
    Love, the Lord, is on the way.

Text: Eleanor E. Farjeon, 1881-1965
Text © Miss E. Farjeon Will Trust, by permission of David Higham Associates.

I was given the hymn “People Look East” by Eleanor Farjeon for the subject of my advent devotion.  The hymn is set in winter when the earth is bare, but to me the hymn speaks of hope and renewal.  In the dark days of winter, it is comforting to look forward to the renewal of spring.  The hymn exhorts us to look east to the rising sun and the return of the messiah.  Both sources of great hope.  In the last two lines of each stanza love is alternatively defined as “Guest,” “Rose,” “Star,” and “Lord.”  This advent hymnal leads us to hope and prepare for the coming of our savior. “Set every peak and valley humming; With the word the Lord is coming.”

Fun fact:  Eleanor Farjeon also wrote the hymn “Morning Has Broken” later made famous by Cat Stevens in 1971.