Longfellow Revisited: A Gospel Poem for Christmas

Douglas Bond, author of several historical fiction novels, recently hosted a contest where one had to write a stanza that matched the syntax and style of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, and captured the essence of how the Gospel proves that “wrong shall fail and right prevail.”

The following is a poem that was born during this contest, when I began to ponder the depths of the Gospel, and how Christmas is far more than the birth of Jesus, it is the coming of lasting hope, the promise of peace, and the gift of redemption. Many thanks to Bond and Longfellow, for their work, and for turning my eyes back to the Savior this Christmas.

The final stanza is from Longfellow’s original work. Merry Christmas, dear friends.

“Brought Peace On Earth”

By: Madelyn Canada

The Word declared, “Let there be light!”

Stars, hills, and mountains came in sight;

But man He made,

His light displayed.

‘‘Twas peace on earth, good-will to men!

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Rebelled! The man and wife, they did;

Sins dark curse could not be hid.

Now man deprived,

Brings the demise

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

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Alas! A newborn King now cries,

Who one day from the dead shall rise;

Came to the dark,

A light to spark

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

---

He hung upon a cross that day

The skies went dark and earth did quake.

“‘Tis done!” He cried,

Through death, brought life.

Now peace on earth, good-will to men!

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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!