Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was the most popular American poet of the 19th century; his most famous works include “Hiawatha,” “Paul Revere’s Ride,” and “The Wreck of the Hesperus.” The early years of the 1860s were difficult for Longfellow: the Civil War began in 1861, and later that year he lost his beloved wife, Frances, in an accidental fire at home. In 1863 his son Charles enlisted in the Union army, without telling his father; late that year he was severely wounded in the Battle of Mine Run. In response to these crises, Longfellow wrote this poem on Christmas Day 1864; originally entitled “Christmas Bells,” it was published in 1865 and became enormously popular both in America and Europe.

Longfellow’s poem includes seven stanzas, but many hymnbooks and performances use fewer of these, often just the first two and last two stanzas. The historical setting in the midst of the Civil War is quite visible in the fourth and fifth stanzas.

The English musician Jean Baptiste Calkin (1827-1905) had originally written the tune Waltham in 1848, but set the poem to that tune in 1872.

1. I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And mild and sweet The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

2. 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!

3. 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!

4. 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!

5. 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!

6. 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!”

7. 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.”

Here’s Ed Herrman giving
a nice dramatic presentation,
with the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir backing him.