CHARRED OAKS INN - FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

As is our tradition here at Charred Oaks Inn, Lexington, Kentucky, on special occasions we share thoughts and words written by one of our favorite poets ... we wish you and yours a very happy holiday season filled with joy, and peace and goodwill toward men!

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.”