 | [Independence bell, in] Swinton's fourth reader : The Reader the Focus of Language-Training |  |
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78.—Independence Bell.
[_]
In connection with this poem the pupil should re-read Lessons 68 and 69,—“The Declaration of Independence,”—where all the allusions will be made plain.
1.
There was tumult in the city,In the quaint old Quaker town,
And the streets were rife with people
Pacing restless up and down;
People gathering at corners,
Where they whispered each to each,
And the sweat stood on their temples,
With the earnestness of speech.
2.
As the bleak Atlantic currentsLash the wild Newfoundland shore,
So they beat against the State House,
So they surged against the door;
And the mingling of their voices
Made a harmony profound,
Till the quiet street of chestnuts
Was all turbulent with sound.
3.
“Will they do it?” “Dare they do it?”“Who is speaking?” “What's the news?”
“What of Adams?” “What of Sherman ?”
“O, God grant they won't refuse!”
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“I am stifling!”—“Stifle, then:
When a nation's life's at hazard,
We've no time to think of men!”
4.
So they beat against the portal—Man and woman, maid and child;
And the July sun in heaven
On the scene looked down and smiled;
The same sun that saw the Spartan
Shed his patriot blood in vain,
Now beheld the soul of freedom
All unconquered rise again.
5.
Aloft in that high steepleSat the bellman, old and gray;
He was weary of the tyrant
And his iron-sceptered sway;
So he sat with one hand ready
On the clapper of the bell,
When his eye should catch the signal,
Very happy news to tell.
6.
See! see! the dense crowd quiversThrough all its lengthy line,
As the boy beside the portal
Looks forth to give the sign!
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Breezes dallying with his hair,
Hark! with deep, clear intonation,
Breaks his young voice on the air.
7.
Hushed the people's swelling murmur,List the boy's strong joyous cry!
“Ring!” he shouts aloud; “ring! Grandpa!
Ring! O, ring for Liberty!”
And straightway, at the signal,
The old bellman lifts his hand,
And sends the good news, making
Iron music through the land.
8.
How they shouted! What rejoicing!How the old bell shook the air,
Till the clang of freedom ruffled
The calm gliding Delaware!
How the bonfires and the torches
Illumed the night's repose,
And from the flames, like Phœnix,
Fair Liberty arose!
9.
That old bell now is silent,And hushed its iron tongue,
But the spirit it awakened
Still lives—forever young.
340
On the Fourth of each July,
We'll ne'er forget the bellman,
Who, 'twixt the earth and sky,
Rung out our Independence,
Which, please God, shall never die!
| [Independence bell, in] Swinton's fourth reader : The Reader the Focus of Language-Training | |