I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day +giveaway!

It's Christmas 1863, the American Civil war rages and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow sits alone, contemplating the last couple years. Summer 1961 his wife's dress caught on fire and she died the next morning. He sustained burns trying to put out the flames (bad enough for him to give up shaving and begin the use of Laudanum.) After seven years of courting Frances Appleton and about eighteen years of marriage, he was devastated by his loss.

Now, he's just received news that his son has been badly wounded in battle.

So he sits down and writes a poem.

"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."

This poem has since become a very beloved hymn -- one of my favorites -- and the inspiration for a story that won the ACFW Virginia chapter's short story contest. I Heard the Bells is included in the anthology A Bit of Christmas. 

Virginia, December 1864

Three years ago, Gabriel Morgan left his home in Virginia to fight for the Union army, despite his family and his fiancée’s loyalties to the South. Now, with battle fresh in his mind, and the war still raging, he chances a quick trip home with one prayer…to make peace this Christmas.

Now available at Amazon!

What is one of your favorite "traditional" Christmas poems or Carols? Or, if you love this song as much as me, which is your favorite version? 

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