Tragedy struck the home of America’s most popular poet. On July 9, 1861, Henry Wadsworth Longellow’s wife, Fanny, was near an open window sealing the locks of her daughter’s hair in a packet, using hot sealing wax. It was never known whether a spark from a match or the sealing wax was the cause, but suddenly her dress caught fire and engulfed her with flames. Her husband, sleeping in the next room, was awakened by her screams. He desperately tried to put out the fire and save his wife. He was severely burned on his face and hands.
She, tragically burned, slipped into a coma the next day and died. His grievous burns would not even allow him to attend her funeral. He seemed to lock the anguish within his soul. Because he continued to work at his craft, only his family knew of his personal suffering. They could see it in his eyes and observe his long periods of silence. His white beard, so identified with him, was one of the results of his tragedy- the burn scars on his face made shaving almost impossible.
Although a legend in his own time, he still needed the peace that God gives to His children. On Christmas Day, three years following the horrible accident- at age 57-he sat down to capture, if possible, the joys of the season. He began:

“I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carol play.
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

As he came to the third stanza he was stopped by the condition of his beloved country. The Civil was in full swing. The Battle of Gettysburg was not long past. Days looked dark, and he probably asked himself the question. “How can I write about ‘peace on earth, good will to men’ in this war-torn country, where brother fights against brother and father against son? But he kept on writing – and what did he write?

“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!”

It seems as if he could have been writing these words for us today! Wadwsorth then turned his thought to God, the only One who can give true and perfect peace, and continued writing:

“Then pealed the bells more loud deep:
God is not dead, not doth He sleep:
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”