‘A chant sublime’

“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!"‘

— “Christmas Bells,’’ by the New England poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was written in 1863, during the Civil War, and first published in 1865.