Christmas 1917

The bells of Christmas sweetly ring,
Glad tidings of great joy they bring;
On this bright and happy morn,
Unto you a Saviour’s born;
Pealing over hill and plain
Comes once more the glad refrain;
It echoes through the lonely-glen,
“Peace on earth, goodwill to men.”

Peace on earth, when war is rife
And nations meet in deadly strife,
When sorrow surges all around,
And pain and suffering abound.
O Christmas bells, on this glad day,
We yearn for loved ones far away;
For round the hearth a vacant chair
Tells of a loved one wanting there.

And memory brings again to view
Happier days that once we knew,
Days when we welcomed in the birth
Of Christ the Lord, with peace on earth.
O Christinas bells, ring out old strife,
Ring in a purer, holier life,
When war for evermore shall cease,
And man with man shall dwell in peace.

K. SMYTH.

Poem from The Witness, 21st December 1917
Image Top:  A card made in 1917 by the 46th (North Midland) Division showing soldiers crossing no-man’s land, illuminated by a flare or shell.