One cold December day in 1863, when the country was reeling from the deep-seated divisions of the Civil War, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow received a telegram: the son of the great 19th century poet had been severely injured by a gunshot wound that nicked his spine and nearly left him paralyzed.

It was in that sorrow—a despair with which only a parent could relate—that the widowed father penned the poem we now know as "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." The composition, which has since been transformed into one of our most beloved Christmas carols, gave words to the dissonance Longfellow felt between the hallmarks of the holiday season and the desperation consuming his every moment. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Longfellow wrote:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth...

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