I love Christmas carols. If asked to pick my very favorite I would probably choose "Joy to the World." However, one that I have also always loved is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. There is just something about bells ringing on Christmas Day that paints a beautiful picture in my mind. I imagine a little church with a steeple where the bells are housed. On Christmas Day, a bell ringer pulls the cord and the bells chime back and forth and ring out the good news of Jesus' birth. And of course it is snowing and the landscape is beautiful!
Recently, I came across the story behind this song and it shed a different light on how I view this carol. Henry Longfellow married his wife Frances on July 13, 1843 and they settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts in a house that overlooked the Charles River. Together they had five children, Charles, Ernest, Alice, Edith, and Allegra. The year 1861 was a tragic year--for Henry personally and also for America. The Civil War began in April of that year and the nation was in turmoil.
On July 9, 1861 Frances wrote in her diary, "We are all sighing for the good sea breeze instead of this stifling land one filled with dust. Poor Allegra is very droopy with heat, and Edie has to get her hair in a net to free her neck from the weight." The next day, she decided to trim some of 7 year old Edith's beautiful curls (probably to give her relief from the heat). She decided to preserve the clippings in sealing wax. Melting a bar of sealing wax with a candle, a few drops fell unnoticed upon her dress. The longed for sea breeze gusted through the window, igniting the light material of Fanny's dress--immediately wrapping her in flames. In her attempt to protect Edith and Allegra, she ran to Henry's study in the next room, where Henry frantically attempted to extinguish the flames with a nearby, but undersized throw rug. Failing to stop the fire with the rug, he tried to smother the flames by throwing his arms around Frances--severely burning his face, arms, and hands. Fanny Longfellow died the next morning. Too ill from his burns and grief, Henry did not attend her funeral.
That Christmas (1861) Longfellow wrote, "How inexpressibly sad are all holidays." On the first anniversary of Fanny's death he wrote, "I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace." His journal entry for December 25, 1862 reads, "'A merry Christmas' say the children, but that is no more for me."'
His oldest son, Charles, joined the war and was a lieutenant in the Union army. In 1863 he was severely wounded when a bullet passed under his shoulder blades and through his spine. That Christmas there is no entry in Longfellow's journal. Life was very bleak. The war raged and his son fought for his life.
Charles did survive (although was always a cripple) and by Christmas of 1864 the future of the nation seemed a little brighter. Abraham Lincoln had been re-elected and the Union army clearly had the upper hand. On December 25, Henry penned the words to the song we now know as "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." He wrote it as a poem and the original title was "Christmas Bells." There are two stanzas that have been omitted through the years because they contain references to the Civil War. It is interesting to read the entire poem/song and see how it reflects on the prior years of the war's despair, and then ends with a confident hope of triumphant peace.
"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!
I 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 the 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 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!"
I'm pretty sure I will never listen to this song again and picture my beautiful little church on a snowy hillside pealing out a beautiful melody on Christmas Day. Instead, I will remember how the man who wrote this carol suffered terrible personal tragedy and endured the horrors of war and yet still was able to proclaim, "God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men!" Oh how our nation needs that today more than ever.
If this song had not been written on Christmas Day, I doubt if it would have made it as a Christmas carol. Instead of the joyous news of Christ's birth and the celebratory theme that most carols portray, this song is actually kind of depressing as it describes the war and a man in deep despair wondering if there is any hope for himself or the world around him. I love how he is able to put aside his sorrows and write the last stanza which boldly declares that right will triumph over wrong and there will be peace on earth. It is a beautiful picture. Not at all like my original imaginary vision of this song but beautiful nonetheless. This will remain one of my favorite Christmas carols. Knowing the story behind it, makes me appreciate it even more.
Merry Christmas everyone and continue to pray for peace on earth. GOD IS NOT DEAD NOR DOTH HE SLEEP!
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