I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

According to biographers, Longfellow wrote “Christmas Bells,” on December 25, 1864, although some dispute the exact date. According to Brisbanes (See: Further Reading & Resources), Longfellow heard church bells on a Sunday, against the distant cannonade. Thus, holiness was mixed with warfare, and Longfellow had a built-in conflict for his poem.

The speaker of the poem “hear[s] the bells on Christmas Day” (Line 1) and notes how they are “familiar” to them. The speaker views the bells as “wild and sweet” (Line 3) and notes the continually repeating message of “peace on earth, good-will to men” (Line 5), which gives the audience a consistent, hopeful message of faith. This phrase, which is taken from the Biblical passage Luke 2:14, notes the arrival of the Christ child and emphasizes the role he will play as savior.

This deep belief in Christ’s message of unity is conveyed as the speaker notes how the bells signify the importance that this sentiment had “rolled along / [an] unbroken song” (Lines 8-9) for generations. The speaker privileges this sentiment as correct. Day after day, the bells solidify “a voice, a chime, / [a] chant sublime” (Lines 13-14), emphasizing the idea that mankind should be peaceful and hope the best for their neighbors, echoing the Christian idea to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” which appears in both Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7:12.

This sentiment, which is both personal, spiritual, and political, is disrupted by “the cannon thunder[ing] in the South” (Line 17). Whether this sound is actually cannon fire heard by the speaker, or only imagined (or both), it is correlated with the cannon’s “accursed mouth” (Line 16) or barrel. This conjures up not only actual missile fire, as shot is thrown from the cannon’s gun, but rhetoric used to justify the South’s position as well. This sort of embittered battle “drowns” (Line 19) out the message the that Christmas carols convey. The speaker wonders how Christianity can survive this onslaught, and feels that the cannon fire is equal to a sort of natural disaster. The speaker compares the “thunder” (Line 17) of the cannon to an “earthquake” (Line 21). This, in turn, destroys the foundation of the hearths across the United States.

The speaker notes that “households born, / [of] peace on earth” (Lines 24-25) are now “made forlorn” (Line 23). In other words, the speaker wonders, how could such a rift occur, especially in a nation which purports to hold fast to Christian belief. Soon, the speaker is overwhelmed, feeling “despair and […] [bowing their] head” (Line 26), a sign of defeat. The speaker wonders how the idea of Christian peace can exist when “hate is strong / [a]nd mocks the song / [of] peace on earth, good-will to men” (Lines 28-30). In the speaker’s opinion, most “households” (Line 24) that advocate inclusivity are made “forlorn” (Line 23) by the pro-slavery stance of the Confederacy and its “hate” (Line 28) toward the Black populace. The speaker goes on to assert that “[t]here is no peace on earth” (Line 27) since humans are so awful to each other.

However, at this moment of great despair, another tolling of the bells reminds the speaker that “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep” (Line 32). Here, the message conveyed by Christ’s birth, as relayed by the angel in Luke, comes back “loud and deep” (Line 31). The speaker notes that despite suffering and persecution, in the long run, “[t]he Wrong shall fail / [t]he Right prevail” (Line 34) as the story of Christ suggests. If the Right—in this case, the movement of the abolitionist North—continues forward “with peace on earth, good-will to men” (Line 35) as its intent, it should triumph over what the speaker considers misguided views.