I Heard the Bells
If ever there was anyone who was forced to trod a crazy, crooked path and cry out to God, “Where are you?” it was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Known by many as one of America’s greatest poets and educators, Longfellow reached deep within himself to be able to write the inspired words of the beloved carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”.
When he was only in his twenties he was regarded as one of America’s most respected scholars. He was happily married, working as a professor at Harvard and enjoying a beautiful home when it all came to a crashing halt with the death of his wife.
For seven long years, his grief reigned. Finally, he met and married a wonderful woman and the two of them welcomed five children into their family. During those years of happiness, Longfellow wrote many of his best works.
By 1860, Longfellow had reached worldwide fame. Then, in 1861 unbearable tragedy hit their family. While lighting a fire, his wife set fire to her clothing and burned to death. Shortly after that horrific event, the American Civil War started. Again, he plummeted into the depths of grief.
Longfellow despised everything about the war and begged God to make it stop. When his nineteen-year-old son was wounded, Henry’s pleading became laced with wrath. On Christmas Day in 1863, Longfellow heard the church bells ringing in his hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He poured out the angst of his heart that day in the song we know as “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”.
Filled both with honest doubt and deep faith and hope, the following words are rich with Biblical truth…
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’ unbroken song
Of peace on earth, goodwill 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, goodwill 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, goodwill 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, goodwill 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, goodwill to men.
In the midst of your darkness, can you, like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, hear that voice of hope?
