- There was a tumult in the city
- In the quaint old Quaker town,
- And the streets were rife with
people
- Pacing restless up and down-
- People gathering at corners,
- Where they whispered each to each,
- And the sweat stood on their
temples
- With the earnestness of speech.
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- As the bleak Atlantic currents
- Lash the wild Newfoundland shore,
- So they beat against the State
House,
- So they surged against the door;
- And the mingling of their voices
- Made the harmony profound,
- Till the quiet street of Chestnut
- Was all turbulent with sound.
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- "Will they do it?"
"Dare they do it?"
- "Who is speaking?"
"What’s the news?"
- "What of Adams?"
"What of Sherman?"
- "Oh, God grant they
won’t refuse!"
- "Make some way there!"
"Let me nearer!"
- "I am stifling!"
"Stifle then!
- When a nation’s life’s
at hazard,
- We’ve no time to think of
men!"
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- So they surged against the State
House,
- While all solemnly inside,
- Sat the Continental Congress,
- Truth and reason for their guide,
- O’er a simple scroll
debating,
- Which, though simple it might be,
- Yet should shake the cliffs of
England
- With the thunders of the free.
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- Far aloft in that high steeple
- Sat the bellman, old and gray,
- He was weary of the tyrant
- And his iron-sceptered sway;
- So he sat with one hand ready
- On the clapper of the bell,
- When his eye could catch the
signal,
- The long expected news to tell.
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- See! See! The dense crowd quivers
- Through all its lengthy line,
- As the boy beside the portal
- Hastens forth to give the sign!
- With his little hands uplifted,
- Breezes dallying with his hair,
- Hark! with deep, clear intonation,
- Breaks his young voice on the air.
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- Hushed the people’s swelling
murmur,
- Whilst the boy crys joyously;
- "Ring!" he shouts,
"Ring, Grandpa,
- Ring! Oh, ring for Liberty!"
- Quickly, at the given signal
- The old bellman lifts his hand,
- Forth he sends good news, making
- Iron music through the land.
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- How they shouted! What rejoicing!
- How the old bell shook the air,
- Till the clang of freedom ruffled,
- The calmly gliding Delaware!
- How the bonfires and the torches
- Lighted up the night’s
repose,
- And from the flames, like fables
Phoenix,
- Our glorious liberty arose!
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- That old State House bell is
silent,
- Hushed is now its clamorous
tongue;
- But the spirit it awakened
- Still is living-ever young;
- And when we greet the smiling
sunlight
- On the fourth of each July,
- We will ne’er forget the
bellman
- Who, betwixt the earth and sky,
- Rung out, loudly,
"Independence";
- Which, please God, shall never
die!
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We Hold These Truths…
