RING THE BELLS!
Christmas is ... the Rescue
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Listen to the bells! They're peeling, wild and sweet! Ah, but there’d been a time when the tolling of the bells pained poet Longfellow …
On Christmas Day in 1863 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow continued to grieve the death of his beloved wife Fannie. Hers was a tragic death. When her housedress caught fire, Longfellow himself tried to extinguish the flames with his own body, but Fannie did not survive. And because of his severe burns, Longfellow couldn't attend the funeral.
Then, Longfellow's oldest son enlisted in the Union army and fight in the Civil War. On December 1st, he received a telegram that his son had been shot during a battle of the Mine Run campaign. The location of the exit wound from the bullet put his son at risk for being paralyzed.
When this widowed father of six heard the cannons thundering nearby, he was beside himself with concern for his children, his country, his neighbors. It's hard to imagine the depths of emotions the bells evoked as they tolled on that Christmas Day. Somehow, as Longfellow took up his pen, his turmoil and grief faded into hope and he wrote his most passionate poetic endeavor.
This year, whatever despair and hardship threaten your joy, reach out in faith as Longfellow had done so long ago—confident that God is not dead, nor is He deaf!
Merry Christmas!
Also, please check out my Amazon #1 book for Early Readers, A Snowflake's Adventure . In 2021, we donated over 500 for these books to OCC/SP! Thank you for purchasing and leaving a review on Amazon!! Thank you! www.amazon.com/Snowflakes-Adventure-eMarie/dp/B09HFXX3NC
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
by
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - 1807-1882
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."
Also, please check out my Amazon #1 book for Early Readers, A Snowflake's Adventure. In 2021, we donated over 500 for these books to OCC/SP! Thank you for purchasing and leaving a review on Amazon!!
I Heard the Bells is one of my favorite Christmas songs! Thank you for sharing, Erma. Have a blessed Merry Christmas!