Hi, this is Rita. The "Hark the Herald" version uses the first couplet of each verse of "Hark..." A friend found it in a 1935 AME hymnal. I heard still a third version, (I think) on the radio and took the verses down in shorthand.

At this very moment I have no idea where those verses are but I'll trace this thread and see if I can find them. It's such a good tune that I suspect it was very natural for people to make up verses.