The Story Behind the Hymn “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
This story, about the hymn “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” was taken from this website (which gives permission to share and copy the article).
One of America’s best known poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), contributed to the wealth of carols sung each Christmas season, when he composed the words to “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” on December 25th 1864. The carol was originally a poem, “Christmas Bells,” containing seven stanzas…
The poem gave birth to the carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” and… five [of the seven] stanzas [two referring to the Civil War were removed] were slightly rearranged in 1872 by John Baptiste Calkin (1827-1905), who also gave us the memorable tune. When Longfellow penned the words to his poem, America was still months away from Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9th 1865; and, his poem reflected the prior years of the war’s despair, while ending with a confident hope of triumphant peace. (…[At this time, Lincoln] prompted his countrymen to “rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.”)
As with any composition that touches the heart of the hearer, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” flowed from the experience of Longfellow– involving the tragic death of his wife Fanny and the crippling injury of his son Charles from war wounds…. Henry married Frances Appleton [Fanny] on July 13th 1843, and they settled down in the historic Craigie House overlooking the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They were blessed with…five children– Charles, Ernest, Alice, Edith, and Allegra….
Tragedy struck both the nation and the Longfellow family in 1861. Confederate Gen. Pierre G. T. Beauregard fired the opening salvos of the American Civil War on April 12th, and Fanny Longfellow was fatally burned in an accident in the library of Craigie House on July 10th…. After trimming some of seven year old Edith’s beautiful curls, Fanny decided to preserve the clippings in sealing wax. Melting a bar of sealing wax with a candle, a few drops fell unnoticed upon her dress. The longed for sea breeze gusted through the window, igniting the light material of Fanny’s dress– immediately wrapping her in flames. In her attempt to protect Edith and Allegra, she ran to Henry’s study in the next room, where Henry frantically attempted to extinguish the flames with a nearby, but undersized throw rug…. Failing to stop the fire with the rug, he tried to smother the flames by throwing his arms around Frances– severely burning his face, arms, and hands. Fanny Longfellow died the next morning. Too ill from his burns and grief, Henry did not attend her funeral. (Incidentally, the trademark full beard of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow arose from his inability to shave after this tragedy.)
The first Christmas after Fanny’s death, Longfellow wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are all holidays.” A year after the incident, he wrote, “I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace.” Longfellow’s journal entry for December 25th 1862 reads: “‘A merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more for me.” Almost a year later, Longfellow received word that his oldest son Charles, a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac, had been severely wounded with a bullet passing under his shoulder blades and taking off one of the spinal processes. The Christmas of 1863 was silent in Longfellow’s journal…. Finally, on Christmas Day of 1864, he wrote the words of the poem, “Christmas Bells.” The reelection of Abraham Lincoln or the possible end of the terrible war may have been the occasion for the poem. Lt. Charles Longfellow did not die that Christmas, but lived. So, contrary to popular belief, the occasion of writing that much loved Christmas carol was not due to Charles’ death.
Longfellow’s Christmas bells loudly proclaimed, “God is not dead.” “The LORD liveth, in Truth, in Judgment, and in Righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory” (Jeremiah 4:2). Even more, the bells announced, “Nor doth He sleep.” “Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). God’s Truth, Power, and Justice are affirmed, when Longfellow wrote: “The wrong shall fail, the right prevail.” “To finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness” (Daniel 9:24). The message that the Living God is a God of Peace is proclaimed in the close of the carol: “Of peace on Earth, good will to men.” …”For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace…. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end….” (Isaiah 9:6-7)….
Merry Christmas! And, may the Prince of Peace grant you His peace!
December 21st, 2006 10:42
Good one, Michelle. I’m so glad in the new hymnbook they put all the verses together under the staff. Back in the day we would always sing the first three verses only, ending with the sentiment:
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.”
I really couldn’t stand to sing the song and end at that point. I’ve grown to like the hymn much better these days.
December 21st, 2006 11:32
BiV,
I soooooo agree with you on that one! In fact, I had forgotten all the verses were together when we sang it last Sunday. The first thought that went through my mind was, “If they decided to not sing all verses today, I really, really, really hope they don’t stop in the middle!”
December 21st, 2006 12:33
This makes me want to start a series on the stories behind the hymns. I know that there’s a couple of books on the topic. Eh, maybe I just need to read those…We need more writers before I go implementing any new features.
December 21st, 2006 12:59
I know…I need to read the book that I know of. It makes the hymn mean so much more when we know what inspired it.
December 22nd, 2006 15:28
Michelle, I enjoyed reading this article. I love to know more about the hymns and those who wrote the words and music. It makes singing them so much more meaningful. Maybe we can write one up once in awhile. We might not even make Naiah do all of it!
Seriously, though, it’s great to learn backgrounds of hymns, scriptures, and all sorts of things we read and see and hear.
December 26th, 2006 16:31
Thanks for sharing this information. I didn’t know it before. I came to appreciate this hymn when we sang it while I was living in Israel. The 2nd Intifadeh had just broken out and we students were very restricted in our movements.
“For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.” We were tasting a small dose of the hatred among races that has fueled conflict in that region for years. The message of hope in this hymn is a welcome one in a world still filled with wars.
December 26th, 2006 21:08
Brad and Mary, thank you for your comments. I like the idea of exploring the hymns together…doing so has a lot of potential!
Bradley, thanks for sharing your personal experiences with this hymn. I think there is a reason Pres. Hinckley quoted part of the hymn in his Christmas devotional message.