Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this incredible song on Christmas
morning in 1863. He'd had a rough couple of years leading up to it. The
Civil War was in full swing, and he'd just gotten word that his son was
wounded in it. His wife had recently died in a fire. There wasn't any
Christmas cheer for him that day he'd given up all hope. That is, until he
heard church bells. What he wrote is not one of the more well-known
Christmas songs. It wasn't even turned into a song until at least 10
years after it was written, by an English organist named John Baptiste
Calker. But it may just be the best Christmas song ever written. This is
Sarah McLachlan's version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn_1-z0d7iQ&feature=share
