(If Christmas isn't your thing, you are not excluded: please accept this in the good spirit in which it is given, and pardon me, but right now I'm all Christmassy.)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote
- 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!
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!"
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!"
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!
Peace on earth, good will to men!