I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

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.

These haunting words were penned by the renowned poet and devoted Christian Henry Wadsworth Longfellow just after he had received word that his son had been wounded in the war--Christmas Day, 1864. Only two years before, Longfellow's wife had perished in a fire. Deeply grieved, he shared his feelings through a poem and called it Christmas Bells.

In 1872, John Baptiste Calkin set the verses to music, and it became one the most beloved and familiar Christmas carols of all time, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.

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.

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."