WRITTEN UNDER RETHEL'S 'DEATH, THE FRIEND' TOLL! Is it night, or daylight yet? Somewhere the birds seem singing still, Though surely now the sun has set. Toll! But who tolls the Bell once more? He must have climbed the parapet. Did I not bar the belfry door? Who can it be? -- the Bernardine, That wont to pray with me of yore? No, -- for the monk was not so lean. This must be He who, legend saith, Comes sometimes with a kindlier mien And tolls a knell. -- This shape is Death! Good-bye, old Bell! So let it be. How strangely now I draw my breath! What is this haze of light I see?... IN MANUS TUAS, DOMINE! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO THE DRIVING CLOUD by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW YUSSOUF by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL THE ANGELS OF BUENA VISTA by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER GOD EVERYWHERE by ABRAHAM IBN EZRA THE SOLITUDE OF SPACE by FLORA CECILE ALLISON HERACLES AND MELEAGER by BACCHYLIDES PRAYER by EVGENY ABRAMOVICH BARATYNSKY |