I Heard The Bells ----

I love to hear bells ringing throughout the Christmas season -- Salvation Army bells, sleigh bells, jingle bells, bells calling the people to worship from high up in the church steeple, the sound of bells coming from the organ chimes, and all the little bells of Christmas that everywhere sing and ring of God's Love and Light!

     "Born in Portland, Maine in 1807, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow entered school at the age of three.  By his sixth birthday, he was not only reading the classics but also writing stories and poems.  Having completed his college degree at age 19, he became a professor of modern language at Bowdoin College.  Within a few years, he was writing his own textbooks as well as volumes of poetry.  He married at 24 and joined the faculty at Harvard.  Then tragedy struck.  During  a trip to Europe his wife of four years experienced a miscarriage and died two weeks later at the age of 22.  Broken-hearted, Longfellow returned to the United States and buried himself in his work.

     Seven years after being widowed, he married again.  Five children filled the house with laughter.  He was in demand in literary circles around the world, and was granted honorary degrees at Oxford and Cambridge, as well as an audience with Queen Victoria.  Then tragedy struck Longfellow again.  His wife dropped a match on her skirt while sealing envelopes with wax.  Her gown caught fire, and despite his attempts to extinguish the flames by smothering them with his own body, she perished.  He was left with serious burns on his face and hands, and grieving the loss of his wife, he fell into a deep depression.  Adding to his grief was the onset of the Civil War.  Bringing the battle even closer to his heart, his oldest son ran off to fight with the Union Army.  Within a year the boy was shot and sent home to recuperate.

     On Christmas Day in 1863, in the midst of his personal anguish and grief over the state of the nation, Longfellow is reported to have heard the pealing of bells.  He quickly composed the verses to a poem titled 'Christmas Bells.'  The 3rd verse echoes his despair:  'There is no peace on earth' I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth'  Despite its somber tone, in its closing verses, he affirms his faith -- 'God is not dead ....the wrong shall fail, the right prevail.'

     It would be 10 more years before Longfellow's verses were set to music by John Calkin in 1872.  The title was changed to "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day,"  Today Longfellow's legacy lives on in his only Christmas Carol, reminding us that in spite of our particular sorrows, there continues to be a reason to hope for peace on earth and goodwill to men."

     "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 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 hearthstones of a continent,
and made forlorn the households born 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!"