I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day - all 7 verses (Longfellow), w story behind the song
Channel: WildeNotesMusic
Date: 2009-12-13

Some time after 1972 an unknown person dropped 2 Civil-War-related verses from Longfellow's 1863 poem "The Christmas Bells," rearranged the other verses & set them to a tune written by J B Calkin in 1872.   In this video, Genie tells how the poem came to be written & sings it to a 1950s tune by Johnny Mark.

CHRISTMAS BELLS
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1863)

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!"