SILENT the bell hung in the tower and waited. Under, in luminous channels of the city, The lights went whirling in a fiery swarm. Fathomless night Brooded in heaven with dim receded stars. @3Posuisti me in tenebrosis@1 Silent the bell hung in the tower and waited. Far underneath raved the tempest of London, The shallow storm of our life, Under the abyss of everlasting silence. @3et in umbra mortis.@1 The bell hung in the dark tower and waited. Beneath the bell, each in his sepulchre, Slept on the austere dead. @3In tenebris stravi lectulum@1 One after one under the dominant tower The living laid them down, Even as the dead they rested, but their warm Life rested not, Life that pursues in slumber, Life that may never pause nor taste remission. @3et in pulvere dormiam.@1 Aloof the bell brooded above the city. Then to the man watching beneath at midnight In the dark bell imprisoned voices whispered, Heard but of him watching beneath at midnight, In the iron silence stirred spectres of sound. @3Cor meum conturbatum est,@1 Death with hounds of Fear stirred in the darkness. The ghosts of sound prisoned within the silence Eddied about the bell, voices of anguish: "O loose us, thou that watchest! Rain us abroad, scatter us, a hail of fear, On dark roofs and the shining hurry of streets. Hear, thou unheeding city, drunken with Life! Hear, ye souls of Life, Whether of those that sleep or those that waken! @3Formido mortis cecidit super me@1 Such is the doom of Death, none may escape it. "Lone must he lie, comfort may not come near him, The dead are separate from him and the living. Death will have no companions. Cold is his bed, what though with warmth encompassed, His homely bed, where long secure he slumbered, Falls from him, Death drags down the obscure abyss Slowly his fainting flesh. Darkened his eyes, never lamp may lighten them. Love cannot touch, Pity may not approach him." @3sicut umbra quum declinat.@1 Silent the bell hung in the tower and waited. Still under silence urged the spectral voices: "Ye whose perpetual pulses rock your slumber With hushed beat of Life, ye that keep vigil, Hear the word of Death! The just man dies, the sinners also perish, Death hath but one dominion. @3Unus introitus est omnibus ad vitam,@1 One is the end, whether ye rest or labour, Whether ye seek wisdom or else pursuing Pleasure or power toil. Death with indifferent hand prepares one guerdon, With darkness fills the brain and the hands with dust. @3et similis exitus.@1 Now is the hour of Death and the hour of Birth. "Ye that bring forth to-night in the obscure city, Unto what end the anguish of your travail? His mother bore with pain, yet with rejoicing —All Death inherits— Him who with pain here is from life released. @3Sic et nos nati desivimus esse.@1 Now shall the bell utter the word of Death." Lo in profound night, when hardly audible, London beneath, whispering, stirred as in slumber. Far above it, above its wandering mists, Under the tranquil stars, Solemn and deep the bell spoke in the silence: @3Pax Dei@1 Spoke as alone with God in benediction. "Peace to all souls, calm after toil and tumult, Peace as of him whose labour is accomplished, Praise unto God for life and death consummate, Thanks to God the giver!" High, as above the earth a spirit ascended, Pausing, pronounced the great word of blessing, @3quae exsuperat omnem sensum.@1 The deep bell spoke in the gulf of midnight. The mighty voice, having communed with silence, Rolled o'er the immense city resonant In long waves of sound, @3Qui confidunt in Illo intelligent veritatem.@1 Death unto Life uttering high messages. Even as a wind sweeps from the face of heaven, Heaps underfoot, confused and mountainous mass, The crested clouds, showing in sudden glory, Height beyond height, the stars,— So from the face of Life triumphant Death Scatters and drives the dim clouds of living. @3In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen.@1 Life re-emerges, tranquil, shining, august. So did the man watching beneath at midnight, Hear how the sound of Death Over the city hung in benediction. It blessed the calm dead, the strenuous living, All souls of the just. Hidden in dark rooms of the teeming city, Spirits of love heard it, consoled in slumber, @3Pax est electis Ejus.@1 And Peace replenished the deep wells of the soul. Birth also it blessed, and the joy of mothers; For so in the old time, the hardly remembered, The bright soul of the dead Came unto earth, welcome and meet to be welcomed Now having achieved, enlightened, enjoyed, Welcome the dear soul returns to its Father. @3Justorum autem animae@1 Now is the hour of Death and the hour of Birth. He who below the tower mourned in his vigil, Under that sound heard the impenetrable Majestic silence of sepultured Time; And heard the dead man's years Falling as water falls, spilt from a cup Into the weltering, vague, transforming sea. So did the counted years Fall and be mingled with the infinite Past. @3in manu Dei sunt.@1 The bell tolled them down into Eternity. The long ebb of Life, hushed in subsidence. He heard and all waters Flowing to the vast, unfruitful, infinite sea. Beheld risen from the sea, the eternal waters Forever feeding, adorning the fruitful earth. Also the dead man's years, Secret, diffused, feeding the heart of the world; @3Non tanget illos tormentum mortis.@1 And shroudless stars brightening about the earth. Then in the tower, under the assembled stars, Over the sceptred dead, the ministrant living, Each in their place of rest, He saw one Angel brood, toil and repose Blessing, the Angel of the ineffable Peace. @3Pax in aeternum Dei.@1 Slowly the bell ceased on the listening midnight. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AN EVANGELIST'S WIFE by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON DOWN-HILL ON A BICYCLE by LOUIS UNTERMEYER TO COLE, THE PAINTER, DEPARTING FOR EUROPE by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THE FISHER by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE SOUND THE LOUD TIMBREL; MIRIAM'S SONG by THOMAS MOORE FIDELIA: 4. THE AUTHOR'S RESOLUTION IN A SONNET by GEORGE WITHER IN MEMORY OF GENERAL GRANT by HENRY ABBEY |