Longfellow's poem: I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
(written for his son, a soldier, wounded in battle, in the middle of the Civil War.)
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!
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!
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!"
Ok, some may say this is a shameless plug for a band I love and their new Christmas album...well, so be it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5AmXynu9ok&feature=related
(written for his son, a soldier, wounded in battle, in the middle of the Civil War.)
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!
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!
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!"
Ok, some may say this is a shameless plug for a band I love and their new Christmas album...well, so be it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5AmXynu9ok&feature=related
(One of the you tube videos reports that Longfellow lost both his wife to a fire --true--and his son to a bullet--false. Longfellow's son was injured in the Civil War at the end of November/beginning of Dec, and Longfellow went to nurse him back to health, and wrote the poem...now his son may have been doing poorly, or close to death...but he did not die for several years after this. Though Longfellow's mental anguish at the time was probably no less real, for I'm sure he thought how close his son came to death, and probably feared for it daily before receiving the news of the injury. This history lesson is now concluded; I just thought I'd make you aware if you are looking for the video if the link doesn't copy well) ;)
Casting Crowns just released a new Christmas album. They sing a song, I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day, focusing on the stanzas of Longfellow's poem that are left out of the old Christmas carol. This song really struck me. There have been a lot of things in life that are hard these days, the economy seems to hang over all of our collective heads like Madame Guillotine once hung suspended and greedy for blood. And so many of the families have loved ones serving now in a war; soldiers defending and fighting...and this song speaks to hope to both situations.
(You Tube, and the official Casting Crowns website, also has Mark Hall speaking about the song, and why the group is singing it.) :) Mark Hall, also enjoys Christmas music and listening to it from the day after Thanksgiving to Jan. :)
Casting Crowns just released a new Christmas album. They sing a song, I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day, focusing on the stanzas of Longfellow's poem that are left out of the old Christmas carol. This song really struck me. There have been a lot of things in life that are hard these days, the economy seems to hang over all of our collective heads like Madame Guillotine once hung suspended and greedy for blood. And so many of the families have loved ones serving now in a war; soldiers defending and fighting...and this song speaks to hope to both situations.
(You Tube, and the official Casting Crowns website, also has Mark Hall speaking about the song, and why the group is singing it.) :) Mark Hall, also enjoys Christmas music and listening to it from the day after Thanksgiving to Jan. :)
Thanksgiving is now past, and there is so much to be thankful for. In the stores Christmas has been arriving on the shelves since before Halloween was over. But the music during Christmas is really among my favorite genres.
I bring this up because the music is really being played now, and also because in my readings I came across a notation I had made in Haggai 2:4...the verse has a lot in it, but my note pertains to the Lord's declaration "for I am with you"...this is the most repeated promise in the Bible...it is the meaning of Emmanuel...the reason for the season. God is with us. What a beautiful reason to celebrate.
Our emotions may want to imprison or command us, circumstances may be overwhelming us, things may seem hopeless, but I would urge everyone who would read this to remember God's most repeated promise, 'I am with you', and remember He is not going to be defeated, nor leave us to be. There is reason to hope, to stick with Him, keep the faith and let Him show us His perspective and His protection. He is worthy of trust, we can hunker down with Him, ride out the storm.
I pray to a loving and caring Lord for the hearts of the hurting, those struggling, those despairing, those who are fighting at home or abroad, for the families of our Soldiers, for my friends, for my family, for myself.
And I am confident I am heard, not because of my piety but because of His holiness.
Emmanuel.
Let the celebrations for Christmas begin...not with black Friday but with song.
I bring this up because the music is really being played now, and also because in my readings I came across a notation I had made in Haggai 2:4...the verse has a lot in it, but my note pertains to the Lord's declaration "for I am with you"...this is the most repeated promise in the Bible...it is the meaning of Emmanuel...the reason for the season. God is with us. What a beautiful reason to celebrate.
Our emotions may want to imprison or command us, circumstances may be overwhelming us, things may seem hopeless, but I would urge everyone who would read this to remember God's most repeated promise, 'I am with you', and remember He is not going to be defeated, nor leave us to be. There is reason to hope, to stick with Him, keep the faith and let Him show us His perspective and His protection. He is worthy of trust, we can hunker down with Him, ride out the storm.
I pray to a loving and caring Lord for the hearts of the hurting, those struggling, those despairing, those who are fighting at home or abroad, for the families of our Soldiers, for my friends, for my family, for myself.
And I am confident I am heard, not because of my piety but because of His holiness.
Emmanuel.
Let the celebrations for Christmas begin...not with black Friday but with song.