You may be familia with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s most popular poems, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, but did you know about his Christmas poem? On Christmas Day I read a post by Phil Steiger, a pastor in Colorado, featuring part of the poem written during the height of the conflict of the Civil War.

In our sometimes divided country,I thought it might be good to share the entire poem here today and be sure to consider the final two stanzas –

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.”

From Flower-de-Luce (George Routledge and Sons, 1867) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This poem is in the public domain.