The Yale expositor., 1908-07-03
independence Bell
A Poem That Has Been Read for
YearS-That Is Worth Reading
Again-Who Wrote III

hrmed by the signatures Of the delegates In the
nounce the event by ringing the old State House
bell. which bore the inscription. Proclaim hbery
10 the isndj TO all Inhabitants thereof" and the old
bellman posted his grandson at the door Of the
hall to await the instruction of the doorkeeper
when to ring. At the word that the docu-
ment had been signed the little patriot scion
rushed out and fiinging up his hands shouted
"Rn9I Ring RINGw
There was tumult in the city,
In the quaint old Quaker town,
And the streets were rife with people
Pacing restless up and down;
People gathering at corners,
Where they whispered each to each,
And the sweat stood on their temples,
With the earnestness of speech.
As the bleak Atlantic currents
Lash the wild Newfoundland shore,
So they beat against the State House,
So they surged against the door;
And the mingling of their voices
Made harmony profound,
Till the quiet street of chestnuts
Was all turbulent with sound.
twill they do ii ?" "Dare they do it?"-
''Who is speaking?-"Whats the news?'
"What of Adams9"- "What of Sherman?"-
"Ohl God grant they won't refusep
make some way there l"-"Let me nearerP
II am sitting r'-"Stife, then,
When Nations life's at hazard
We've no time to think of menW
So they beat against the portal,
Men and women, maid and child;
And the July sun in heaven
On the scene looked down and smiled
THa 10. a.
Shed his patriot blood in vain
Now beheld the soul in freedom
All unconquered, rise again.
So they surged against the State House,
While, all solemnly inside,
Sat the Continental Congress-"
Truth and reason for their guide,
Ger a simple scroll debating
Which, though simple it might be
Yet should shake the cliffs of England
With the thunders of the free.
At the portal of the State House,
Like some beacon in a storm,
Round which waves are wildly beating,
Stood a boyish, slender FORM
With his eyes fixed on the steeplo
And his cars agape with greed
To catch the first announcement
OF the signing" of the deed.
Aloft, in that high steeple,
Sat the bellman, old and gray
He was weary of the tyrant
And his iron-sceptered sway,
So he sat, with one hand ready
On the clapper of the bell,
When his eye should catch the signal,
The happy news to tell.
See seei The dense crowd quivers
Through all its lengthy line,
AS the boy beside the portal
Looks forth to give the signl
With his small hands upward lifted,
Breezes dallying with his hair,
Hark with deep, clear intonation,
Breaks his young voice on the air.
flushed the peoples swelling murmur,
List the boys strong, joyous cryl
"Pfnq," he shouted, ring! Grandpsl
Ring! Oh! Ring! for Liberty!"
And straightway, at the signal,
The old bellman lifts his hand,
And sends the good news making
Iron music through the land.
How they shouted what rejoicingi
How the old bell shook the air,
Till the clang of freedom ruffled
The calm gliding Delaware
How the bonfires and the torches
Illumined the nights repose,
And from the flames, like Phoenix,
Fair Liberty arose.
The old bell now is silent,
And hushed it's iron tongue,
But the spirit 1t awakened
Still lives-forever young,
And while we greet the sunlight
On the Fourth of each July,
Well ne'er forget the bellman,
Who, twixt the earth and sky,
Rung out OUR INDEPENDRNcE;
Which, please God, shall neper die.