A Reed by the River/The Bow-Brick Bells
THE BOW-BRICK BELLS(To L. R. C.)
I heard the bells of Bow-Brick Hill a-ringing out so clearly,
I heard the bells of Bow-Brick Hill all in the morning early;
They rang so far, they rang so near, they called the loitering lasses
Their notes swept high across the sky and swept the meadow grasses;
I heard the bells of Bow-Brick Hill all in the morning early;
They rang so far, they rang so near, they called the loitering lasses
Their notes swept high across the sky and swept the meadow grasses;
O blithesome bells of Bow-Brick Hill!—The world to work was hieing,
While in and out and all about the meadow larks came flying,
While here and there and everywhere a brier bloom was smiling
With bird and bee and hedge and tree the sweet of year beguiling.
While in and out and all about the meadow larks came flying,
While here and there and everywhere a brier bloom was smiling
With bird and bee and hedge and tree the sweet of year beguiling.
I heard the bells of Bow-Brick Hill all in the soft dusk fleeting,
When home again by hedge and lane came each one with his sweeting;
Round ivied wall and chimnies tall the swallows black were flying,
And hushed across a dimming world, the Bow-Brick Bells were dying.
When home again by hedge and lane came each one with his sweeting;
Round ivied wall and chimnies tall the swallows black were flying,
And hushed across a dimming world, the Bow-Brick Bells were dying.
The tender bells, the thrilling bells,—o'er reedy marsh and meadow
They swept the day a long caress and sung it into shadow,
Till through the tower, through the dusk and through the heart came creeping
The echo of the Bow-Brick Bells that crooned a world to sleeping.
They swept the day a long caress and sung it into shadow,
Till through the tower, through the dusk and through the heart came creeping
The echo of the Bow-Brick Bells that crooned a world to sleeping.