THE LIBERTY BELL

By William Ross Wallace.

Illustrated From Original Drawings By John A. Hows.

New York:

James G. Gregory, No. 4 Walker Street.

1862.

Original

Original

Original

I.

A sound like the sound of a tempest rolled,

And the heart of a people stirred,

For the bell of freedom at midnight tolled,

Through a fettered land was heard;

And the chime still rung

From its iron tongue,

Steadily swaying to and fro;

And to some it came

As a breath of flame,

And to some as a sound of woe.

II.

Upon the tall mountain, upon the tost wave,

It was heard by the fettered, and heard by the brave;

It was heard in the cottage, and heard in the hall,

And its chime gave a glorious summons to all.

The old sabre was sharpened, the time-rusted blade

Of the bond started out in the pioneer's glade,

Like the herald of wrath—and the host was arrayed!

Original

III.

Along the tall mountain, along the tost wave,

Swept the ranks of the bond, swept the ranks of the brave;

And a shout as of waters went up to the dome,

And a sun-drinking banner unfurled,

Like an archangel's pinion flashed out from his home,

Uttered freedom and hope to the world.

Original

O'er the mountain and tide its magnificent fold,

With a terrible glitter of azure and gold,

In the storm and the sunshine forever unrolled.

It blazed in the valley; it blazed on the mast;

It flew like a comrade abroad with the blast;

And the eyes of whole nations were turned to its light;

And the hearts of the multitude soon

Were swayed by its stars as they shone through the night,