I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

The lyrics to one of my favorite Christmas carols, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on December 25th 1864. At this time, Longfellow was had gotten word that his son had suffered a crippling injury in the Civil War. He was also still mourning the death of his wife who had died when her dress caught on fire a few years earlier. Longfellow himself was burned trying to save her. Heartbroken, he was unable to attend the funeral and never shaved again. (See the tragic story here). Although the poem reflects the sorrow Longfellow was feeling, he ended on a hopeful note, lines which bring me to tears. Two of the seven stanzas which concern the Civil War are missing from the song and the remaining five stanzas were altered in 1872 by songwriter John Baptiste Calkin (1827-1905). Ironically Calkin's melody was the 1848 American militant hymn, "Fling Out the Banner! Let It Float" by George Washington Doane (1799-1859). I personally prefer this melody over the more popular one by Johnny Marks which is published in The Reader's Digest "Merry Christmas" Songbook. After days of searching for anything close to the original melody I found this one. It even shows the lyrics!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

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.

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.”

The omitted stanzas:


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.