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ReadingWillow structured literacy program for Australian students

Christmas Bells

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow·1807–1882
Lines:35Movement:Romanticism
"I heard the bells on Christmas DayTheir old familiar carols play,And wild and sweetThe words repeatOf peace on earth, good-will to men!  And thought how, as the day had come,The belfries of all ChristendomHad rolled alongThe unbroken songOf peace on earth, good-will to men!  Till, ringing, singing on its way,The world revolved from night to day,A voice, a chimeA chant sublimeOf peace on earth, good-will to men!  Then from each black accursed mouthThe cannon thundered in the South,And with the soundThe carols drownedOf peace on earth, good-will to men!  It was as if an earthquake rentThe hearth-stones of a continent,And made forlornThe households bornOf 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 songOf 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!"