During the Civil War Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was also depressed after the death of his wife and wounding of his son in battle. On Christmas morning, 1864, he heard the sound of bells from his Cambridge home. Feeling forlorn at first, the sound gave him hope. His poem “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” was also set to music and expresses the conviction that, “The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth good will to men.”