I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day may be one of the most popular, frequently played songs of the Christmas season. While joyful in tone, the song is borne out of deep anguish and pain. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) wrote the poem “Christmas Bells” in grief after the death of his wife from a tragic house fire and his son’s severe injuries in a Civil War battle. Henry was home with his five children on Christmas Day in 1864. He heard the church bells tolling and the words began to flow: 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, goodwill to men.”
The last line in every stanza of his poem references the angel’s song in Luke 2.14. In the final verse, Henry turns in hope to God’s mercy and justice:
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.
Henry is hard to pin down regarding his Christian convictions. He was steeped in New England Puritanism, attended a Unitarian church for a time yet referenced Jesus often in his poetry. He knew his Bible well and read the New Testament in the original Greek. He did not shy away from religious themes, as did some contemporaries.
His verses frame our everyday lexicon–“Into every life some rain must fall”–“Ships that pass in the night”–“When she was good, she was very, very good.” He was a quintessential American poet, shaping our national identity through “Paul’s Revere’s Ride,” “The Song of Hiawatha,” and “The Courtship of Miles Standish.” Father Felician preached a sermon in his poem “Evangeline” that draws us into prayer: