Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BELLMAN by JOHN BANISTER TABB

First Line: HE SITS ALONE IN THE BELFRY
Last Line: LET HIM DO AS HE WILL WITH HIS OWN.
He sits alone in the belfry,
A feeble man and gray,
And tolls the bell when its full notes tell
Of the hours that glide away.

In the mist of the early morning,
In the glare of the garish noon,
In the midnight deep when the shadows creep
On the track of the waning moon,

When the snow in the starlight glistens,
When the flowers from their grave arise,
When the faint airs swoon in the languid June,
When the dirge of autumn sighs.

Like Time with the scythe uplifted
He measures each silent spell,
Sifting the sand with a tremulous hand,
As he waits for the brooding knell.

Each stroke has a double meaning
A welcome and farewell --
In a single breath a birth and death,
A past and a future dwell.

A groan and a peal of laughter,
A tear of joy or of pain,
A frown that breaks or a smile that wakes
Sunshine in the heart again.

Like a vane in the wind of Fortune
Has the life of the bellman gone,
For its changes have been as the shadow and sheen
That stride over the waving corn.

But his heart like the bell he tolleth
Beats ever the selfsame tone,
Saying all I have is the God's who gave;
Let Him do as He will with His own.



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