I teach at a non-religious private school, and I taught this poem to one of my classes a couple weeks ago. This poem was published during the Civil War. In that context, this poem, which I mostly knew as a song, is heartbreaking, but it provides hope that all will be better. It is based on Luke 2:14. This verse varies slightly depending on the version of the Bible you read. The question the poem is forcing us (as a divided nation) to answer is whether all men should have peace. Peace to men of good will or good will toward men. Both these questions were at the heart of our divided nation.