Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1848-04-06
Tbt GamtIp Circle.
From the Union Magazine for March,
THE OLD CHAPEL BELL
A Ballad.

The OLD CHAPEL BELLE
A Ballad.
BY JOHN G. SAKE,
.A,thOr Of "ProgresS," a Satire, etc,
WITHIN church-yard's sacred ground,
Whose fading tablets tell
Where they who built the village church
In solemn silence dwell,
Half hidden in the earth, there lies
An ancient Chapel-Bell,
Broken, decayed and covered DER
With Wondering leaves and rust;
Its very name and date concealed
Beneath cankering crust;
Forgotten-like its early friends,
Who sleep in neighboring dust
Yet was it once trllsty Bell,
OF most sonorous lung,
And many joyous wedding peal,
And many knell had rung,
Ere Time had cracked its brazen sides,
And broke its iron tongue,
And many youthful heart had danced
In merry Christmas time,
To hear its present roundelay,
Sung out in ringing rhyme;
And many worldly thought been checked
To list its Sabbath chime.
A youth--a bright and happy boy,
One sultry summers day,
Eotin,,o1 Of nct ,,ri+, hot NJ boI
Glanced hitherward to stray
To read little book he had,
And rest hun from his play.
"a soft and shady spot is this
The rosy youngster cried,
And sat him down beneath a tree,
That ancient Bell beside;
(But hidden in the tangled grass,
The Bell he meier espied.
Anon, a mist fell on his book,
The letters seemed to stir,
And though, full off, his tagging sight
The boy essayed to spur,
The may page was quickly lost
Beneath a cloud Of blur
And while he marvellcd much at this,
And wondered how it came,
He felt a languor creeping DER
His young and weary frame,
And heard voice, gentle voice,
That plainly spoke his name.
That gentle voice that named his name,
EnHanced him like a spell,
Upon his ear, so very near
And suddenly 1t fell;
Yet soft and musical, as t were
The whisper of bell.
"Snce last spoke" the voice began
"Sccms many a dreary year
(Albet, It's oniy since thy birth
I've lain neglected here)-
Pray list, while rehearse a tale
Behooves thee much to hear
"Once from yon ivied tower watched
The villagers around,
And gave to all their joys and griefs
A sympathetic sound
(But most are sleeping, now, within
This consecrated ground.
II used to ring my merriest peal
To hail the blush;ng bride;
| sadly toled for men cut down
In strength and manly pride;
And solemnly-not mourntully-
When little children died.
"But chief, my duty was to bid
The villagers repair,
On each returning Sabbath morn,
Unto the House of Prayer,
And in his own appointed place,
The Savlor's mercy share.
"Ah! well mind me of child
A gleesome, happy maid,
Who came, with constant step, to church,
In comely garb arrayed,
And knelt her down full solemnly,
And penitently prayed
"And oft, when church was done, marked
That little maiden near
This pleasant spot, with book in hand,
AS you are sitting here
She read the Story of the Cross,
And wept with grief sincere =
"Years rolled away,-and beheld
The child to woman grown;
Her cheek was fairer, and her eye
With brighter lustre shone;
But childhood's truth and innocence
Were still the maiden's own.
81 never rang a merrier chime
Than when, joyous bride,
She stood beneath the sacred porch,
A noble youth beside,
And plighted him her maiden troth,
In maiden love and pride.
Il never tolled deeper knelf,
Than when, in after years,
They laid her in the church-yard here,
Where this low mound appears
(The very grave, my boy, that you
Are watering now with tears }
at is thai Mother gentle boy,
That claims this tale of mime
Thou art flower whose fatal birth
Destroyed the parent-ylne -
A precious flower art thou, my child
Two LIVES WERE GIVEN EoR THINE
"One was thy sainted mothers, when
She gave thee mortal birth;
And one thy Savior's, when, in death,
He shook the solid earth
CO. boy, and live as may beft
Thy life's exceeding worth"
The boy awoke, as from dream,
And, thoughtful, looked around,
But nothing saw, save at his feet
His mothers lowly mound, :, =.
And, by its side, that ancient Bell
Halfhidden in the ground