A Season of Peace in a Time of War.

Editing my Rotary Club's bulletin, I ran across this Christmas poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I liked it so much that I gave it a page of the bulletin.

Christmas Bells

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-willl 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!"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The fourth stanza suggests a Civil War provenance for the poem and the reminder that other people in other ages had the same faith that the "the Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, With peace on earth and good will to men" as we have today.

Incidentally, this version of the poem comes from Santa's Net, which looks like it has some good Christmas-related resources.

Finally, if you have a favorite Christmas poem or site, leave me a link in the comments. I'm looking for a poem for next week's bulletin.