Dear Poet

Dear Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,

When seeing the words “Christmas Bells” nothing fills my mind but the wonders of Christmastime. I recount on the distinct smell of the old box from my attic full of decor passed down from generations of women with the same face as me; I’m met with the credulously flutter my heart held within the hours before St. Nicholas arrived; the warm feeling that lingered securely knowing I was surrounded in a house of love.

Perhaps this was what drew me in, the ideas I held of Christmas were far beyond just societal connotation, they were lived, valued, and more true to me than a lot of things I know.

It seemed, when I began your poem, that you and I were much alike in this sense. You describe your own memories of the sensory Christmastime as “wild and sweet”, which speaks to my own delight in the festive time of the year. I wonder, Mr. Longfellow, what  those carols played. I wonder, if the magic of unity and melody fluttered your heart same as mine Christmas morning.

Yet, your poem takes a turn when you describe the devastation of the Civil War. To this, I could not relate, but I indeed listened. You depict the war as “an earthquake”, detailing how it “rent the hearth-stones of a continent.” Mr. Longfellow, to experience such a tragedy during a time celebrating joy and festivity, is something I wish no one to experience. But the reality you’ve reminded me of, is that many people experience that every year. 

While sitting on my nice couch, in a well built house, unwrapping gifts, I don’t think about this. I become too immersed in my well-off life to recognize the gift I have seated around me. More than reminiscence on Christmas, you have opened my eyes to the wonders I have been blessed with. What you have taught me through this poem, is to cherish what I have. To never take those precious memories for granted, and to hold every Christmas with love. For I am furnished with love, and graced to experience every smell, sound, and touch of that magic of Christmas.


Thank you, 

Sincerely, Juliana LaPado

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