The Bell in  General   

I love thy music, mellow bell,
I love thine iron chime,
To life or death, to heaven or hell,
Which calls the sons of Time.

Thy voice upon the deep
The home-bound sea-boy hails,
It charms his cares to sleep,
It cheers him as he sails.

To house of God and heavenly joys
Thy summons called our sires,
And good men thought thy sacred voice
Disarmed the thunder's fires.

And soon thy music, sad death-bell,
Shall lift its notes once more,
And mix my requiem with the wind
That sweeps my native shore.

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tell Your Friends About It | Print This Poem

Comments

You should be logged in to be able to leave comments

Other poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

• Account Of A Visit From St. Nicholas
• Alphonso Of Castile
• Astræ
• Bacchus
• Berrying
• Blight
• Brahma
• Celestial Love
• Compensation
• Concord Hymn
• Dæmonic Love
• Days
• Dirge
• Each And All
• Eros
• Etienne de la Boéce
• Fable
• Fate
• Forbearance
• Give All To Love
• Good-by
• Initial Love
• Loss And Gain
• Merlin
• Merlin I
• Merlin II
• Merops
• Mithridates
• Monadnoc
• Musketaquid
• Ode To Beauty
• Ode To William H. Channing
• Painting And Sculpture
• Saadi
• Sursum Corda
• Suum Cuique
• Tact
• The Amulet
• The Apology
• The Barberry Bush
• The Bell
• The Forerunners
• The Park
• The Problem
• The Rhodora
• The Snow-Storm
• The Sphinx
• The Sphynx
• Threnody
• To Ellen, At The South
• To Eva
• To J.W.
• Two Rivers
• Uriel