Christmas Bells (Unabridged)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (27 February 1807 - 24 March 1882) was an American poet and teacher best known for the poems "Paul Revere's Ride", "The Song Of Hiawatha" and "Evangeline." He was one of the so-called fireside poets from New England. This poem was written on Christmas Day 1863 and deals with the stark contrast between the Christmas message of peace on earth and the brutal and devastating American Civil War which was at its height. The poem was published in February of 1865 and first set to music in 1872 by English organist John Baptiste Calkin. Calkin's tune is still the one commonly used with the text to this day under the name of "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day."