I heard the Bells on Christmas Day

"Christmas Bells"
The Original Poem
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
All Seven Stanzas
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"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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!"

December 25, 1864