I Heard the Bells
Back around Christmas in 2010, I put up these two posts about a story that intrigued me when I heard it. I have since found out that Mr. Longfellow had some interesting beliefs (Have the revisionists taken him apart, too?). However, the words of this song are so inspirational that I felt led to share the story once more.
When Brother Dick led the congregation in singing last week, he would never know how his selection of this song would bless me this year.
It is not one of the more popular Christmas Songs, but as I sang the song I did something I don’t always do I’m sorry to say.
I took note of the words.
This song, indeed, fits the times in which we live.
I looked at the bottom of the page and saw that the words had been written by the famous American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
I went home and did some research.
I discovered that hymn books remove two of the verses that were originally written by the famous poet.
The verses are removed because they have references to the American Civil War.
Mr. Longfellow wrote the poem on Christmas Day in 1864, when the war had affected nearly everyone in the country.
Unfortunately, the great poet was no exception.
Three months after the war had begun, in July of 1861, tragedy struck the Longfellow family.
Francis Longfellow had just trimmed some of seven-year-old Edith’s hair. Mrs. Longfellow then decided to preserve some of the clippings in sealing wax. While melting a bar of sealing wax with a candle, a few drops of the super heated wax fell on Fanny’s dress. The hot wax ignited the dress, swallowing the beloved wife and mother in flames.
Fanny ran to Henry in the next room. Henry grabbed a small throw rug and wrapped it around his wife, attempting to smother the flames. Unsuccessful, he finally wrapped his arms around his wife in a last attempt to stop the fire.
Henry’s attempt not only burned his face, hands, and arms severely; the effort to save his wife had failed.
Fanny Longfellow died the next morning.
Because of his injuries and his unbearable grief, Henry was unable to attend his wife’s funeral.
Two years later, Charles, Henry’s oldest son, a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac, was severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church. This happened the month before Christmas in 1863.
It is no surprise there is no entry in Mr. Longfellow’s journal for the Christmas of 1863.
Still grieving over the events of the past few years, Henry put his famous pen to paper on Christmas Day in 1864.
This poem is the result.
Jean Baptiste Calkin added the music in 1872.
Mr. Longfellow heard his words in music for a decade, until his death in 1882.
The words have inspired many, as they have me in 2010. (And they are still as inspirational in 2023!)
May God give you a peace that passes all understanding, like He did to Mr. Longfellow, throughout this Christmas season.
Chris Reimers
(Composed on Christmas Day, 1864)
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.
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
‘Til, 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!
————————————————————–
Wings of the Wind 
~ Merry CHRISTmas Chris to you and yours. May God bless your family with peace, health and good will ~ Debby
Thank you, Debbie! I appreciate the like and may God bless you are yours as well.
May God bless your mom, your daughter in law and her husband and their son, your sisters, and your son’s children!
Merry Christmas!
Thank you Chris for the blessings!
That is a heart-rending story. So very sad. It gives a new understanding to the hymn. It reminds me of a poem I wrote, after we laid to rest our firstborn, a daughter. She spent all her 23 days of life in a hospital, from which she never left.
Uncrushed Hope
The only thing there, as you stop for a while,
When you visit the grave of your precious child;
The only thing there was hope for the morrow.
The only things felt were pain, tears, and sorrow.
The feelings expressed before they were gone
Are memories now of loved ones once sown.
With memories faded, now dark and dim,
The love once felt still calls from within.
The one that you seek, now laid in the ground,
You will always remember the love that you found.
As life lingers on, from the depths of your soul,
No words can express, no words can make whole.
The love that still flows down through the years
For the one that’s now buried, with hope and with tears
It always will linger inside of your breast,
Kindled at birth, yet not stilled by their death.
But the soul that you seek does not lie in the ground.
Their new life in heaven with God is now found.
The joys that await for those called beyond
Are sorrows now felt by those left behind.
United one day with the souls of the just,
Our hope for the morrow, in God is our trust.
That one bright day our love will entwine
With those gone before, with those left behind.
Thank you for sharing your story, Anonymous.
The poem you have written is a beautiful tribute to your dear little girl. “Our hope for the morrow, in God is our trust,” indeed.
You will see her in heaven someday by the grace of God.
May God comfort you when you think of her.
God’s blessings…
Beautiful, and very poignant poem. Thank you.
Thanks for the interesting backstory, Chris. That was quite a lot of sorrow for one family. I enjoyed the poem/song.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
You’re welcome, Tom.
I think about this song every year and the story that goes with it.
Thank you for your kind words and may your family have a Merry Christmas as well!
Thanks, Chris!