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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BELLS OF SHANDON by FRANCIS SYLVESTER MAHONY

First Line: WITH DEEP AFFECTION AND RECOLLECTION
Last Line: OF THE RIVER LEE.
Subject(s): BELLS; LEE (RIVER), IRELAND; MUSIC & MUSICIANS; PATRIOTISM;
Sabbata pango;
Funera pango;
Solemnia clango.
-- Inscription on an Old Bell.
WITH deep affection
And recollection
I often think on
Those Shandon bells,
Whose sounds so wild would,
In the days of childhood,
Fling round my cradle
Their magic spells.
On this I ponder
Where'er I wander,
And thus grow fonder,
Sweet Cork, of thee, --
With thy bells of Shandon,
That sound so grand on
The pleasant waters
Of the river Lee.
I've heard bells chiming
Full many a clime in,
Tolling sublime in
Cathedral shrine,
While at a glib rate
Brass tongues would vibrate;
But all their music
Spoke naught like thine.
For memory, dwelling
On each proud swelling
Of thy belfry, knelling
Its bold notes free,
Made the bells of Shandon
Sound far more grand on
The pleasant waters
Of the river Lee.
I've heard bells tolling
"Old Adrian's Mole" in,
Their thunder rolling
From the Vatican, --
And cymbals glorious
Swinging uproarious
In the gorgeous turrets
Of Notre Dame;
But thy sounds were sweeter
Than the dome of Peter
Flings o'er the Tiber,
Pealing solemnly.
O, the bells of Shandon
Sound far more grand on
The pleasant waters
Of the river Lee.
There's a bell in Moscow;
While on tower and kiosko
In Saint Sophia
The Turkman gets,
And loud in air
Calls men to prayer,
From the tapering summit
Of tall minarets.
Such empty phantom
I freely grant them;
But there's an anthem
More dear to me, --
'T is the bells of Shandon,
That sound so grand on
The pleasant waters
Of the river Lee.


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