The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-07-04
independence Bell
A Poem That Has Been Read for
Years-That Is Worth Reading
Again--who Wrote ri

Of Independence would be adopted and con-
Continental Congress il was determined TO an
nounce the event by ringing the old State House
bell, which bore the inscription. Proclaim liberty
10 the land, TO al inhabitants hereo' and the old
bellman posted his grandson at the door Of the
hall to await the instruction of the doorkeeper
when to ring Al the word that the doeu-
ment had been signed the little patriot scion
rushed out and ainging up his hands shouted,
"Rinoi Ringl RINdl"l
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.
"Will they do it?" "Dare they do it9"--
"Who is speal<ing1-"Whats the news1"
"What of Adams'"-"W of Sherman1"-
"Ohl God grant they won't refuse T.
MAKE some way there l''-"Let me nearer"
II am sitting 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 !;
The same sun that saw the Spartan
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 soemnly inside,
Sat the Continental Congress"
Truth and reason for their guide,
Der a simple scroll debating
Which, though simple 1t 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 boyish, slender form;
With his eyes fixed on the steeple
And his ears agape with greed
To catch the first announcement
OF the signing" of the deed.
Aloft, in that high s,eeple,
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 cry
ring, - he shouted, ''Rins! Grandpai
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 wha, rejoicingi
How the old bell shook the air,
| Till the clang of freedom rufhed
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 its iron tongue,
But the spirit it awakened
| Still lives-foreveT young,
| And while we greet the sunlight
On the Fourth of each July,
| Wen ne'er forget the bellman,
| Who, 'twixt the earth and sky,
Rung out OUR INDEPENDENCE;
| Which, please God, shall neUer DIE.