I apologize for returning to Christmas music for yet another post, but I was trying to think of what I should post to fit the glimmer of gold theme when I heard the song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” This song is one of my favorites, and it is a great illustration of how there is always a glimmer of gold beneath even the darkest of circumstances.

If you aren’t familiar with the song or the poem, here is what you need to know–

The song was created from a poem written by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was married to his second wife for eighteen years when she died in a fire. Two years later, his oldest son ran off to join the Union Army, and he was wounded quite badly in November of that year. Longfellow wrote the poem “Christmas Bells” on Christmas Day while dealing with the despair of these circumstances.

Here is the poem as Longfellow originally wrote it:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and mild 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.”

I think the song and the poem are both ones of hope and faith. Even in the darkest of night, we can have faith that ultimately, the wrong are going to fail, and the right are going to prevail. Like the repeated peal of a bell, we need to promote goodness, peace, and love of our fellows. This is a great song to sing when you are feeling down because of the turn of the subject from sorrow to hope and faith.

I don’t especially like the “extras” of the below version, but the main part of the song is one I enjoy hearing. I hope that even if you are having a hard time during this Christmas season, you infuse some hope and joy into your spirit. I hope you have a merry Christmas!