An American Christmas Carol

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this poem on Christmas day in 1863--he had lost his wife in a horrible accident (her dress caught fire and she died of her injuries) and his son had been severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia, having joined the U.S. Army against his father's wishes.

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 the 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 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.'

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.

It was first set to music in 1872 by John Baptiste Calkin but probably the more familiar setting is by Johnny Marks, he of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" fame. (Marks also wrote "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", "A Holly, Jolly Christmas", and "Silver and Gold"!)

The hymn or carol depicts Longfellow's sorrow and hopelessness: he hears the bells sounding from the church steeples but thinks that the world has rejected the Christmas message of "peace on earth, good will to men" as sung by the choirs of angels to the shepherds outside Bethlehem and repeated by the church bells. The birth of Jesus is only indirectly alluded to with this quotation and Longfellow finds hope only in the repetition of the ringing of the bells. They answer his doubts or rather, he answers his own doubts and despair. The hymn, as first set by Calkin, rearranges the original poem to remove the Civil War allusions and make it more universal:

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."