Peace on earth, good-will to men

The year was 1863. The American Civil War had been going for two years and would last two more before its end.

The man was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Two years earlier he had lost his wife of 18 years in a tragic fire, leaving him a widower with six children. His eldest son had left home to join the army and recently returned after being shot and narrowly escaping paralysis. The country is torn by war. Things did not look promising for Longfellow or his country.

On Christmas day he penned the poem ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day’ which would later be the text for a carol of the same name.

“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!”

Yet he cannot help but reflect on the status of the world and his life, the violence of the civil war as brother fought brother, and the losses in his personal life.

“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!”

Yet, even in this bleak environment, he heard hope and the promise of a better future in the bells outside his window.

“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!”

What Longfellow heard and felt in the ringing of those bells can still be found, even in the darkness we may find today. May we each find comfort in the “old, familiar carols” that continue to ring about us in our day-to-day lives and sing of peace on earth, good-will to men in the hope that 2018 will be a kinder, more joyful year and heal the scars and pains of our nation and souls.

Jana Mathia,

Gazette Staff