December 23, 2005

Have faith in God –
No more in the far lands roam;
Have faith in God –
On desert or ocean foam;
Have faith in God –
Like the boy who came back home.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882

    I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8.

    The cruel miseries caused by the Civil War greatly distressed the beloved American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. With heaviness of spirit he put his thoughts into words to create this fine carol. Since he was the most influential American poet of his day, Longfellow brought fresh courage and renewed faith to many of his countrymen who read this poem. Although he was a member of the Unitarian church, he maintained a strong belief in God's goodness and personal concern for His people.
    "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" was written in 1864 for the Sunday School of the Unitarian Church of the Disciples in Boston, Massachusetts. It originally had seven stanzas and was titled "Christmas Bells". References to the Civil War are prevalent in the omitted verses. The plain, direct wording of the present five stanzas gives this clear message: God is still in command on in His own time will cause the right to triumph and will bring peace and good will once more. The beautiful chiming bells of Christmas reassure us of this important truth.
    The personal peace of Longfellow's life was shaken again 18 years after he wrote this poem. His second wife, to whom he was very devoted, was tragically burned in a fire. Her death was a devastating shock to him. In his remaining years he continued to write however, and some of his greatest works came during this period of his life. After his death, his bust was placed in the Poets' Corner of London's Westminster Abbey as one of the immortal American writers.

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!"

Have Faith in God by H.M.S. Richards, Used by Permission