Season 4 - Episode 13

To listen to an audio version of this post, visit www.covenantchurch.ca/podcasts/covenant-weekly.

Penned on Christmas Day in 1863, the poem Christmas Bells was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in the midst of the U.S. Civil War. It reflects what I would consider an over-idealistic and even incorrect picture of "Christendom." However, in a world where families were divided, violence reigned, and death was everpresent, it acknowledges the depths of struggle while still holding on to a deep hope. When we sing it as the carol, I Heard the Bells, we skip some of Longfellow's verse and we present it in a different order. Instead, I'll share it below as he wrote it in this Covenant Weekly for December 3.

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."