1. 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. 2. I thought how as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along th'unbroken song Of peace on earth, good will to men. 3. 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.' 4. Then peeled 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.' 5. 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.
Lyrics: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Music: John Baptiste Calkin
Tune: WALTHAM
Meter: L.M.
Henry W. Longfellow, 1807–1882
The cruel miseries of the Civil War greatly affected the author of this text, American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and he wrote “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” in 1864 for the Sunday school of the Unitarian Church of the Disciples in Boston, Massachusetts. The hymn originally had seven stanzas and was titled “Christmas Bells.” References to the Civil War are prevalent in the omitted verses. The plain, direct wording of the present five stanzas gives this clear message: God is still in command and in His own time will cause the right to triumph and will bring peace and good will once more. The beautiful chiming bells of Christmas reassure us of this important truth.
The life of Longfellow was shaken eighteen years after he wrote this poem when his second wife, to whom he was very devoted, was tragically burned in a fire. Her death was a devastating shock to him. In his remaining years he continued to write and some of his greatest works came during this period of his life. After his death, his bust was placed in the Poets’ Corner of London’s Westminster Abbey as one of the immortal American writers.