At Home in Hespeler

And finally, another tradition that goes back to Christmas day, year one, here at At Home in Hespeler, my favourite Christmas poem, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas everybody:

I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

imgp5930I 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.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’ unbroken song
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’.

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.

1864

Brian Gardiner Christmas, Uncategorized