Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/345

 THE VOICE OF THE CHILDREN S BELL. 339

No reproach for shortcomings or failure, No whisper of struggle or stain.

So out of to-day s disappointment, Dear Flossie, we ll gather no rue;

The letters that don t come are painless; Are we sure of the letters that do?

��THE VOICE OF THE CHILDREN S BELL.

A BELL was bought for the new church-tower ; It had godly girth and a mighty tongue ; Strong and skilful hands raised it carefully Till above, in the belfry, it safely swung.

Then the earnest ones who had built the church Wandered out afar, that they there might hear

The resounding notes of the great new bell

Echoed far and wide, vibrant, sweet, and clear.

Alas ! when the stroke on the clear air smote But a little chime from the belfry rang,

Instead of the echoing thunder-tone

They had waited for when the bell should clang.

There was question sharp, there was wonder wide, There was new adjustment to and fro,

But still the bell sounded far away,

And its voice still echoed small and low.

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