O convent bell! long, long ago Your peal was refuge for my heart; The homeward path you seemed to show Lay from the world's ways far apart. But now you hammer prison bars-- I hear the passing children's mirth-- Above the walls mad dancing stars Mingle their music with the earth. What though night-long aspiring prayer And adoration in my soul Ascend as incense through the air To wave for me an angel's stole-- The mother's heart is still more blest, When stirring in her arms she feels Her baby's hand grope for the breast, For heaven her own soul reveals. O, sad and far, O convent bell! You call to prayer on this May eve; For unborn babes your funeral knell Makes Mary mother weep and grieve. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SEVEN TWILIGHTS: 3 by CONRAD AIKEN PEACE (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON HER EYES TWIN POOLS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON DOMESDAY BOOK: WIDOW FORTELKA by EDGAR LEE MASTERS ONE AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF by KAREN SWENSON THE FUN HOUSE FABLE by KAREN SWENSON BALLADE MADE FOR HIS MOTHER THAT SHE MIGHTE PRAYE by FRANCOIS VILLON |