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!"
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Have you heard the John Gorka song using most of this poetry, (it leaves out the middle 3 verses) but is still powerful and wonderful indictment against the American Civil War.
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sweet jingle bell
this is a very sweet melodious xmas song.the message is a great genius thought. I love the rhyme. Beautiful! -
very sucessful
I think this is spendly written and if it existed in the civil wars , there would be no wars. -
Magnificent
With a heavy heart I was moderating www.englishsablal.com
As Moderator of the forum.
During browsing suddenly I found the rich site with treasure.
This is poem, which inspired me about peace, love and equality.
Poetry can remove the darkness and it can be fountain of wisdom.
Regards.
Zahir Shamsery.
Dhaka.
Bangladesh.
Edited on Dec 25, 3:00 because ''. -
Yesterday my cousin was looking for this in the Oxford Book of Carols. Hmmm..written in 1864...that was the last winter of the Civil War.
I love the "chiming" quality to the rhyme scheme of this poem.
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