“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is one of my favorite Christmas carols because it speaks about the harsh truth of our situation, not only on this Christmas Day, but every Christmas since the first one. Perhaps that is why it is seldom sung! It is based on the 1863 poem “Christmas Bells” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The song tells of the narrator’s despair, upon hearing the Christmas bells, that “hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.” But Longfellow, grasped by “hope” concludes that the bells of Christmas shall never be silenced and the message they peal out on this day and all days, shall never be eradicated.
On this Christmas Day 2016, in the United States of America, and in the world at large, the bells on Christmas Day still ring and will continue to ring, however dimly, calling us to rise above the “least common denominator” of human behavior, which expresses itself in bigotry, hate, greed, falsehoods, and ugliness. This darkness shall not prevail. It cannot quench the Light that has come, nor silence the angel song, or cause the bells to cease their ringing. “The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail.” Love (which is at the heart of all things) came down at Christmas and this Love cannot be smothered, ignored or destroyed. “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.”
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.”
No comments:
Post a Comment