This is the true story of pain and hope behind the Christmas carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”
It was March, 1863, in Cambridge, MA., when unbeknownst to his family, 18-year old Charles Appleton Longfellow, oldest of six children born to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Fannie Appleton, walked out of his house on Brattle Street to join President Lincoln’s Union Army to fight in the Civil War.
Less than two years earlier, Charles’ mother died tragically when her dress caught fire. Her husband, Henry, tried desperately to extinguish the flames, but to no avail. She died the following day. At times, Henry W. Longfellow feared he would be sent to an asylum on account of his grief.
Charley made his way to Washington, DC to enlist as a private with the First Massachusetts Artillery. Captain W. H. McCartney wrote to his father for written permission for Charley to become a soldier. Henry granted the permission.
In April, 1863, Charley contacted typhoid fever and was sent home to recover. He returned to his unit in August of that year. During his time home, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought, but Charley missed it.
However, in December, Henry W. Longfellow, celebrated literary critic and poet, received word his son had been severely wounded four days prior. He had been shot through the left shoulder with the bullet exiting under his right shoulder blade. He missed being paralyzed by less than one inch. Recovery would be at least six months. Yet, Henry never lost hope for his son.
And in despair I bowed my head – “There is no peace on earth,” I said.
On Christmas day, 1863, the 57-year old widowed father of six, wrote a poem seeking to capture the turmoil in his own heart and the utter sadness of the world around him. He heard the bells that Christmas Day and the singing of “peace of earth,” but he observed a world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the optimistic outlook of hope of the song.
The more he listened, the more a confident a hope began to emerge in his soul – even in the midst of bleak despair. He saw the bells as being prophetic. There may be despair, violence, injustice, and grief all around, but open up your heart and listen. The Savior was born and one day, one day He will rule in peace for all mankind. There will be peace on earth, good will to men.
May we be filled with hope amidst our pain to be able to see the true Joy and Peace of Christmas.
Link to the lyrics of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” https://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/i-heard-the-bells-on-christmas-day?lang=eng&_r=1