"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" (1849) — sometimes
rendered as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" — is a
poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears,
pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland,
Massachusetts. Sears' lyrics are most commonly set to
one of two melodies: "Carol," composed by Richard
Storrs Willis, or "Noel," adapted from an English
melody.