We don’t hear the verb “hark” much these days. People say “Listen up!” or “Pay attention!” But not “Hark!”
“Hark” began actually as a hunting term. The verb hark was recorded as early as 1200 AD, taken from the Old English heorcian, meaning to hearken or listen. “Hark” has cognates in other European languages, including the modern German verb for “listen”: hörchen.
But the best thing about hark is its sound: it just grabs attention, doesn’t it? And that was its purpose when it referred to points in the hunt when the hounds would return to the trail to catch the scent. You can find this meaning reflected in an old-fashioned phrase I grew up with (and maybe you did too), namely, “to harken back to” something.
Another famous, attention-grabbing use of hark comes in Shakespeare’s short poem Hark! Hark! The Lark—once a mainstay of a basic education. But these days it’s primarily Christmastime when hark springs to life, particularly in the beloved Christmas Carol “Hark, the Herald Angels sing.” And that brings up another seasonal “H” word: herald.
Rarely heard now, the noun “herald” means “messenger” or “envoy.” It derives from the Anglo-French heraud or Frankish hariwald—a military commander. That word is the proto-Germanic noun harja meaning “army” if you wish to go even deeper. The military meaning spills over, too, in the title of persons designated to officiate in medieval tournaments. Picture a colorfully dressed messenger calling knights out to joust, and you have the right image of “herald.”
Yes, a herald is someone with a message, plus the authority to deliver it! So, when added to the command “hark,” voilà, a vivid poetic line is born. No wonder that the song “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” remains so famous.
The text was penned by Charles Wesley. The familiar, and rather sophisticated, melody was adapted from a robust tune by the early German Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn. I particularly like the third verse:
Hail the Heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and Life to All he brings,
Ris’n with Healing in his Wings.Mild he lays his Glory by,
Born that Man no more may die,
Born to raise the Sons of Earth,
Born to give them Second Birth.
And then that stirring refrain:
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!
Mechanically, the refrain is invigorated by both the rhythm (long-short-long, long, long, long, very long) and by its melodic line that steps boldly down the scale (go ahead: sing it to yourself). Together, the rhythm and melody create a strong “hook” or motive fitting for a herald.
Still, it seems to me that the painters have given us even stronger imagery for the Herald Angels. Across Western Art we find masterful canvases of the celestial messengers delivering the Good News. No wonder traditional Christmas Cards also feature this scene: shepherds bending low, the dark earth, and the chorus of angels.
Was it their voices? Their flowing garments? Or their blinding light? I’d vote for the light, myself, because having lived out in a rural area, I’m constantly struck by how piercing any bright light is in the dark night.
So this Advent, bring “hark” into the conversation. Try “Hark, kids: your dad’s got the pizza ready,” or, “Hark, I see Aunt Jennifer’s truck coming down the road.” You can designate the younger kids to be “heralds” and deliver these messages. Or, if that’s too theatrical for you, maybe the kids (or grownups) can revisit those verses in Luke (2: 8-14) and try to draw the scene for themselves. Or, encourage the kids to make up their own version of the Wesley/Mendelssohn Christmas Carol. What could be more fun than a 4-year old combining hark and herald with snippets of “Old MacDonald” and “Jingle Bells”?
