Suddenly there was with the angel a great company of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
Luke 2:13–14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.
Words: Henry W. Longfellow, written Christmas Day, 1863. First published in the juvenile magazine Our Young Folks (Ticknor & Fields, February 1865).
Music: Waltham (Calkin) John B. Calkin, 1872 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Alternate Tune:
If you know where to get a good photo of Calkin (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
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 th’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.
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.
The verses below, usually omitted in modern hymnals, reflect the words’ origin during the American civil war:
Then from each black, accursèd 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.