Just wanted to post a picture before heading out tomorrow to spend Christmas with friends in North Carolina. This ornament on my families Christmas tree commemorates what I hope folks would consider to be a special time in history (ie. the year I was born) and is thus a personal reminder to me of the very reason why we celebrate Christmas: Jesus’ birth, by far the greatest event in history!
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
by Henry W. Longfellow, 1864
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.”
Singing this song was one of the highlights of my Christmas season this year. Something in the words touched me deeply. The way it relates God’s victory over sin had me on the verge of tears.
A funny thing is that the order I know for the verses is different from what you posted here.
God bless you in the new year.
Hmm. I know there are other verses to the song; in what order do you know them to be?
The verse you included in the third position is the final verse in the hymnal I use, lumping the more melancholy verses toward the beginning.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this song with your readers.