 | The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") |  |
355
THE OLD CHURCH-BELL.
Born of the metal and the fire,
They bore me from my raging sire,
And made me of the city's choir
Which sings in free air only;
And here since then I've patient hung,
Silent, untouched; but, being swung,
Giving my voice with iron tongue—
Alone, but never lonely.
They bore me from my raging sire,
And made me of the city's choir
Which sings in free air only;
And here since then I've patient hung,
Silent, untouched; but, being swung,
Giving my voice with iron tongue—
Alone, but never lonely.
The hermit of the belfry here,
Celled in the upper atmosphere,
I speak in accents stern and clear
To all the listening people;
With none my speech to check or mar,
Sending my utterance near and far,
With sonorous clang and sudden jar,
I shake the slender steeple.
Celled in the upper atmosphere,
I speak in accents stern and clear
To all the listening people;
With none my speech to check or mar,
Sending my utterance near and far,
With sonorous clang and sudden jar,
I shake the slender steeple.
I ring the chimes for the bridal day;
I toll when the dead are borne away;
I clang when the red flames rise and play
On crackling roof and rafter;
I tell the hours for the steady clock;
I call to prayers the pastor's flock;
And back and forth in my work I rock,
And sink to silence after.
I toll when the dead are borne away;
I clang when the red flames rise and play
On crackling roof and rafter;
I tell the hours for the steady clock;
I call to prayers the pastor's flock;
And back and forth in my work I rock,
And sink to silence after.
Here by myself in belfry high,
Peeping through bars at earth and sky,
And mocking the breezes sweeping by,
And back their kisses flinging,
I chime for smiles, I toll for tears,
I herald news and hopes and fears,
As I have done for many years,
And never tire of ringing.
Peeping through bars at earth and sky,
And mocking the breezes sweeping by,
And back their kisses flinging,
356
I herald news and hopes and fears,
As I have done for many years,
And never tire of ringing.
From place of vantage, looking down
On yellow lights and shadows brown
Which glint and tint the busy town
With hues that gleam and quiver,
I see within the streets below
The human currents crosswise flow,
Edying, surging to and fro,
An ever-living river.
On yellow lights and shadows brown
Which glint and tint the busy town
With hues that gleam and quiver,
I see within the streets below
The human currents crosswise flow,
Edying, surging to and fro,
An ever-living river.
And when the twilight slowly crawls
O'er slated roofs and bricken walls,
And darkness on the city falls,
And dews the flags besprinkle,
I watch the gloom around me creep,
So dense the silence, dense and deep,
The very highways seem to sleep,
But for the gaslights' twinkle.
O'er slated roofs and bricken walls,
And darkness on the city falls,
And dews the flags besprinkle,
I watch the gloom around me creep,
So dense the silence, dense and deep,
The very highways seem to sleep,
But for the gaslights' twinkle.
Or day or night there meet my gaze
The sloping roofs, the crowded ways,
The meshes of a dreary maze
Where men are ever wending;
One day a rest for them may see—
One day in seven; but as for me,
No time from call of duty free,
My toil is never-ending.
The sloping roofs, the crowded ways,
The meshes of a dreary maze
Where men are ever wending;
One day a rest for them may see—
One day in seven; but as for me,
No time from call of duty free,
My toil is never-ending.
I chime for birth or bridal train;
I toll when souls have burst their chain;
I clang when fire its ruddy rain
From clouds of smoke is flinging;
I chime for smiles; I toll for tears;
I herald news and hopes and fears;
And so shall do for many years,
And never tire of ringing.
I toll when souls have burst their chain;
I clang when fire its ruddy rain
From clouds of smoke is flinging;
357
I herald news and hopes and fears;
And so shall do for many years,
And never tire of ringing.
| The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") | |