A Christmas poem

 This is by Longfellow. It's one of my favorites, and, this year, is kind of Big Mood, as the kids (at least used to) say. Yes, it was written during the Civil War (if I remember, Longfellow had a son grievously wounded while fighting in the Union Army.

It's been modified into a Christmas carol; there are various versions out there, some of them with not very good instrumentations. The verses are swapped around a bit and the one specifically referencing the war left out, but it still hits much the same. The last two stanzas in particular, though I admit this year I feel the penultimate one much more strongly than I do the last one.

Christmas Bells

HW Longfellow

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."