Photo on the top of this page was taken from the article “World’s Most Peaceful Countries 2023” on the Global Finance website
Christmas Bells
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of 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!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of 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!”
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.”
The Little Swallow
(Carol of the Bells in Ukrainian)
(original lyrics:)
Hark! how the bells, sweet silver bells
All seem to say “Throw cares away.”
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer
To young and old, meek and the bold
Ding, dong, ding, dong, that is their song
With joyful ring, all caroling
One seems to hear, words of good cheer
From ev’rywhere, filling the air
Oh, how they pound, raising the sound
O’er hill and dale, telling their tale
Joyf’ly they ring, while people sing
Songs of good cheer, christmas is here
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
On-on they send, on without end
Their joyful tone to ev’ry home
On, on they send, on without end
Their joyful tone to ev’ry home
“Peace cannot exist without justice, justice cannot exist without fairness, fairness cannot exist without development, development cannot exist without democracy, democracy cannot exist without respect for the identity of worth of cultures and peoples.”
Rigoberta Menchu
