A Famous Christmas at War Song
The cannon(s) thundered in the South,
And with the SOUND,
The carols DROWNED
"On Friday, December 25, 1863, (American) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—as a 57-year-old (recently) widowed father of six c***dren, the oldest of which had been nearly paralyzed as his country FOUGHT A WAR AGAINST ITSELF—wrote a poem seeking to capture the dissonance in his own heart and the world he observes around him that Christmas Day.
He heard the Christmas bells ringing in Cambridge (Massachusetts) and the singing of “peace on earth, good-will to men” (Luke 2:14, KJV), but he observed the world of injustice and v******e that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook.
The theme of listening recurs throughout the poem, eventually leading to a settledness of confident hope even in the midst of bleak despair as he recounts to himself that God is alive and that righteousness shall prevail.
Within a decade (1872), the poem was put to music by the English organist John Baptiste Calkin for a processional, set to the the melody “Waltham.”
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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.”
7. 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.”
And with the SOUND,
The carols DROWNED
"On Friday, December 25, 1863, (American) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—as a 57-year-old (recently) widowed father of six c***dren, the oldest of which had been nearly paralyzed as his country FOUGHT A WAR AGAINST ITSELF—wrote a poem seeking to capture the dissonance in his own heart and the world he observes around him that Christmas Day.
He heard the Christmas bells ringing in Cambridge (Massachusetts) and the singing of “peace on earth, good-will to men” (Luke 2:14, KJV), but he observed the world of injustice and v******e that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook.
The theme of listening recurs throughout the poem, eventually leading to a settledness of confident hope even in the midst of bleak despair as he recounts to himself that God is alive and that righteousness shall prevail.
Within a decade (1872), the poem was put to music by the English organist John Baptiste Calkin for a processional, set to the the melody “Waltham.”
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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.”
7. 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.”
1 year ago