Christmas Bells
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1864)
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.”
Bounce
Kirsten McKenna and Walker Jones are returning to school after summer vacation. For Kirsten, it is a time of relief because summer was stressful, her parents have fought the entire time and her best friend was away at camp. Kirsten's only friend was her younger sister. Walker is returning to school as well, but he is a new student; a young African American in a prestigious white school. Resigned to making the best of the situation to please his mother, Walk is reserving judgment concerning the school and it's inhabitants. It does not take long for either student to realize things are going to be radically different this year. Told in dual voice, Kirsten and Walk each have their own chapter and point of view, the unlikely duo bond as friends before learning how close their lives intertwine beyond the confines of school.
