Years ago, I was serving at a Church in Illinois that sang hymns every week, and each Christmas season, we always looked for some well-known Christmas songs to sing with our Church family. During the snowy winter season in Illinois, my favorite Christmas hymn we would sing is the song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”
More recently, this old poem and hymn has been turned into a radio classic by the band Casting Crowns. Yet the lyrics of this beautiful Christmas song have been famous for over 150 years at this point.
The author of the original poem, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was a well-known literary critic and poet who lived during the American Civil War. In July of 1861, as Henry was taking a nap, he woke up to the screams of his wife, Fanny. Her dress had caught on fire from a nearby candle and had begun to spread quickly. Henry rushed into the room and grabbed a rug to try and put out the flames engulfing his wife. When that was unsuccessful, he used his own body to try and douse the flames. His wife died the next morning due to the injuries.
Henry himself was so badly burned that he was unable to attend his wife’s funeral, and from that point on, he wore a beard to cover the severe scars on his face. At that point, Henry became a two-time widower; his first wife having died due to a miscarriage in 1835.
After Fanny’s death, Henry experienced deep grief and depression in his personal life. All the while, the political backdrop of his day was becoming more and more tumultuous. The American Civil War, which started in April of 1861, would lead to more deaths than any other war in American history. Neighbors, friends, and loved ones were all being caught up in the war.
Two years later, Henry’s son Charley was commissioned on March 27, 1863, as a Second Lieutenant in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry. Later that year, on December 1st, Henry received a telegram stating that his son had been shot and could potentially face paralysis for the rest of his life.
It was then, on Christmas Day of 1863, while he was still mourning the death of his wife, and uncertain about his son’s recovery, that he sat down at his desk and penned the poem “Christmas Bells,” which would later become the beloved hymn.
Throughout the song, there is a deep tension between the joy of Christ’s birth and the wickedness of war. In the original poem, the author reveals his despair as he shows he has been up all night on Christmas Eve, and contrasts the message of peace and God’s presence at Christmas with the death and hatred within the war. Even mentioning the distant cannons heard from his home alongside the ringing of the Christmas bells.
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!
Yet the beauty of the song is found in the hope Christ offers despite the brokenness of our world. That on Christmas day so many years ago, a baby was born to the Virgin Mary who would offer God’s presence to the world, and eventually defeat death itself so that we might know that good will one day prevail in the end.
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.”
It’s a reminder to all of us that, despite the suffering and hardship you may be enduring, or the loved ones you have lost, Christmas means that God is with us. God is not dead, nor does he sleep. The Immanuel, Jesus himself, was sent to us by our Heavenly Father, and He will never leave you. And despite the chaos of our world, Jesus offers peace and salvation to those who trust in Him.
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!
So, no matter what hardship you face this Christmas season, let us listen closely for the bells on Christmas Day, reminding us of the hope that Christ offers. Let us worship the Savior and sing the “unbroken song of peace on Earth, good will to men!”
Taylor, Justin. “The True Story Behind ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.’” The Gospel Coalition, December 21, 2014. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/the-story-of-pain-and-hope-behind-i-heard-the-bells-on-christmas-day/
