 | Wood-notes and Church-bells |  |
283
THE BUOY BELL.
(FILEY-BRIG.)
O'er a calm sea, beneath a heaven of blue,Strikes on the ear the tolling of a bell,
Fitful and faint, with melancholy swell:
No hint of present danger meets the view
In sky or ocean, but the Summer through,
By day and night, is heard that plaintive knell,
Like some old voice prophetic moved to tell
The burden of the future—stern and true.
So in our seasons of serenest peace,
When life's smooth waves with scarce a breath are stirred,
The sound as of a warning bell is heard,
Which calls and calls again, and will not cease,—
God's Word of grace and truth, that soft and clear
Rings to reflection ere the storm draw near.
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