Who sang I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Isabella Wilson
Published Feb 22, 2026
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Dayby John Baptiste Calkin (1848), Johnny Marks (1956), and othersGenreHymnOccasionChristmasTextHenry Wadsworth Longfellow (1863)
What is the story behind I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day?
On Christmas day in 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was inspired to write the poem we now know as the Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. It was a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. … Longfellow had fallen into a depression in 1861 when his second wife Frances died.
Why did Longfellow write Christmas bells?
Longfellow penned “Christmas Bells” after his son Charles was wounded while fighting in the Civil War. Although the country remained at war as Longfellow wrote the poem, he expressed his hope that peace would return to the country.
What year did Longfellow write I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day?
Longfellow wrote “Christmas Bells” in 1864. However, he had begun finding the phrases to capture his outlook on the war long before sitting down to write this poem.How many verses in I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day?
Longfellow’s seven verse poem was shortened to the five verse carol that’s sung today. It was put to a tune by John Baptiste Calkin in 1872. Below you’ll find the full poem.
What is the theme of Christmas bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?
Throughout the poem, Longfellow contrasts Christmas with the idea of the war in an honest and memorable way that helps to take the reader into the mind of this troubled father and American during that terrible war.
Did Henry Wadsworth Longfellow write I Heard the Bells?
Longfellow’s ‘I Hear the Bells on Christmas Day’ has two stanzas you rarely hear. The words for one of Christmas’s most beautiful carols was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Dec. 25, 1863, in response to the near fatal wound his son, Charles Appleton Wadsworth, received at the Mine Run campaign in Virginia.
What is the rhyme scheme of Christmas bells?
Introduction and Excerpt from “Christmas Bells” The poem features seven cinquains, each with the rime scheme, AABBC. It features the phrase, “peace on earth, good-will to men,” which became a widely employed invocation for world peace.
