I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
"Suddenly there was with the angel a great company of the heavenly host,
praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth,
peace, good will toward men.'" Luke 2:13-14
Words: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1864; original title: "Christmas
Bells."
Music: "Waltham," John Baptiste Calkin, 1872.
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.
I 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.
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.'
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.
Historical Note: This hymn was written during the American Civil War,
as reflected by the sense of despair in the third stanza. There are two
other stanzas that speak of the battle, which are usually omitted from
hymnals:
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.