The Bells on Christmas Day

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had been in a state of despair after the fire that took the life of his beloved wife. When he heard the church bells on Christmas Day it brought him out of his despair and he wrote the below poem that has since been set to music.

I Heard the Bells

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

1807 – 1882

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.”

 

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