I love Christmas carols. I love how, for
about 6 weeks of the year, believers and non-believers alike are singing
praises and glo-o-o-o-o-oooo-o-o-o-o-oooo-o-o-o-o-ooorias.
Secular radio stations are dashing through
the snow to deck the halls, asking Santa Baby for yachts and diamond rings, and
wondering how on earth Grandma could get run over by a reindeer.
But they are
also proclaiming Therefore, Christian
men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing, ye who now will bless the poor, shall
yourselves find blessing.
And
O
morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth! And praises sing to God the
King, and peace to men on earth.
And
O
come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
Even Charlie Brown sings “Glory to the newborn King”!
It makes me wonder as I wander, and giggle
like a babe in Toyland.
Yet some could say that it isn’t the most
wonderful time of the year, 2015. It’s not a yum-yummy world made for
sweethearts. They would agree with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s words, “There is no peace on earth, I said”.
In 1863 he learned that his oldest son,
Charles, had been severely wounded in battle.
So in 1864, Longfellow’s world was not at
peace either, and hadn’t been for years. What’s more, he had been personally
affected by the war.
He wrote seven stanzas to his poem that
Christmas Day in 1864. Two of them are never sung in our version of “I Heard
the Bells on Christmas Day” but I think they are important to include because
they give us a good idea of Longfellow’s world, which strikingly parallels our
own. They help us to understand why he said, “there is no peace on earth”, and to remind us that “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep”.
In our writers group this month we were
challenged to write a new verse to a favourite Christmas carol.
(I encourage my
fellow Inscribers to try this fun exercise.)
The words “there is no peace on earth, I said” resonated so much with me that
I did some research on the song and then added my own verse at the end – my
proclamation in response to the stanzas before it.
Christmas
Bells
(Longfellow’s
original poem, complete with all seven stanzas, and an extra one added at the
end by Joylene M. Bailey)
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!"
Now let me gather up my faith.
My God’s at work; His love is great.
Loud let bells ring,
And I will sing,
Of Peace on earth, good-will to men!
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. He’s
still at work. He’s still Love. He’s still in charge.
So rest ye merry, Inscribers, let nothing
you dismay. Remember, Christ, our Saviour, was born upon this day: to save us
all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and
joy.
O tidings of comfort and joy.
Victorian Carolers
photo credit: <a
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10199807@N00/5198987752">Holland
Christmas Open House</a> via <a
href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a
href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">(license)</a>
Charlie brown
Longfellow
photo credit: <a
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28567825@N03/3429414720">Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow</a> via <a
href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a
href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a>
Carolers
