I heard the bells on Christmas Day <br />Their old familiar carols play, <br />And wild and sweet <br />The words repeat <br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men! <br /> <br />And thought how, as the day had come, <br />The belfries of all Christendom <br />Had rolled along <br />The unbroken song <br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men! <br /> <br />Till, ringing, singing on its way, <br />The world revolved from night to day, <br />A voice, a chime <br />A chant sublime <br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men! <br /> <br />Then from each black accursed mouth <br />The cannon thundered in the South, <br />And with the sound <br />The carols drowned <br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men! <br /> <br />It was as if an earthquake rent <br />The hearth-stones of a continent, <br />And made forlorn <br />The households born <br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men! <br /> <br />And in despair I bowed my head; <br />'There is no peace on earth,' I said; <br />'For hate is strong, <br />And mocks the song <br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men!' <br /> <br />Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: <br />'God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! <br />The Wrong shall fail, <br />The Right prevail, <br />With peace on earth, good-will to men!'<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/flower-de-luce-christmas-bells/
