Four
voices of four hamlets round,
From far and near, on mead and moor,
Swell out and fail, as if a door
Were
shut between me and the sound:
Each
voice four changes on the wind,
That now dilate, and now decrease,
Peace and goodwill, goodwill and peace,
Peace
and goodwill, to all mankind.
This
year I slept and woke with pain,
I almost wish’d no more to wake,
And that my hold on life would break
Before
I heard those bells again:
But
they my troubled spirit rule,
For they controll’d me when a boy;
They bring me sorrow touch’d with joy,
The
merry merry bells of Yule.