Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells, I've heard this carol for as long as I can remember. I love the last stanza of this poem. Mr. Longfellow had been through a horrible time. His wife had died. His son was injured in the war. I can only imagine the depths of despair he felt. The grief, the loneliness, the anguish. Yet, he still found a glimmer of hope in the promise of Christmas. It is Christmas, not New Year’s Day that offers the promise of a new beginning and something better.

Friends, enjoy your Christmas celebration. Offer kind consideration and prayers for our soldiers, law enforcement officers, and fire fighters who willingly risk so much on our behalf. Take a little time to reflect on the past year and to create your own Christmas-of-heart. Each worthy goal achieved, each act of kindness given places us closer to a better world.

Christmas Bells

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1864)

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
    And wild and sweet
    The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
    Had rolled along
    The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
    A voice, a chime,
    A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
    And with the sound
    The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
    And made forlorn
    The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
    “For hate is strong,
    And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
    The Wrong shall fail,
    The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”