I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

Tiny Book created by Pat Sweet (Bo Press Miniature Books, Riverside CA, 2009)
1 5/8" x 1"
32 pages, 9 illustrations

"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'."

This Christmas carol was written by William Wadsworth Longfellow on Christmas Eve, 1861, as the Civil War approached its most horrific stages. His son had been injured in the war a year earlier, and something in the chilling weather must have reminded him of the grim irony of celebrating Christmas against the backdrop of war. This little version of the poem has been illustrated with pictures of other winter battles throughout history: the battle of Stalingrad, the battle of the Bulge, Valley Forge, the battle of Goldsboro Bridge, the French retreat from Moscow, the German retreat from Moscow, and others, a catalog of misery and waste redeemed by the poem's final ringing, angry verse:

"Then tolled the bells more loud and deep, 'God is not dead, nor does he sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with Peace on Earth,Good Will to Men'."

The book is bound in blue textured paper, with a paper title pasted on the front, and decorative endpapers.

Text and Images by BoPress Miniature Books.