Poems of Felicia Hemans in The Amulet, 1827/The Bell at Sea
THE BELL AT SEA.
BY MRS. HEMANS.
The dangerous islet called the Bell Rock, on the coast of Fife, used formerly to be marked only by a Bell, which was so placed as to be swung by the motion of the waves, when the tide rose above the rock. A light-house has since been erected there.
When the tide's billowy swell
Had reached its height,
Then tolled the Rock's lone Bell,
Sternly by night.
Far over cliff and surge
Swept the deep sound,
Making each wild wind's dirge
Still more profound.
Yet that funereal tone
The sailor bless'd,
Steering through darkness on,
With fearless breast.
E'en so may we, that float
On life's wide sea,
Welcome each warning note,
Stern though it be!