“Peace on earth, good will to men” – believing against the noise of the artillery

CHRISTMAS BELLS

 

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familar 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 it's 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 heart- 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 place 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."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807- 1882)