It is done! Clang of bell and roar of
Send the tidings up and down. How the belfries rock and reel! How the great guns, peal on peal,
Fling the joy from town to town! Ring,
O bells! Every stroke exulting
Of the burial hour of crime. Loud and long, that all may hear, Ring for every listening
Of Eternity and Time! Let us kneel: God's own voice is in that peal,
And this spot is holy ground. Lord, forgive us!
What are we That our eyes this glory see,
That our ears have heard this sound! For the Lord On the whirlwind is abroad;
In the earthquake He has spoken; He has smitten with His thunder The iron walls asunder,
And the gates of brass are broken! Loud and long Lift the old exulting song;
Sing with Miriam by the sea, He has cast the mighty down; Horse and rider sink and drown;'He hath triumphed gloriously!' Did we dare, In our agony of prayer,
Ask for more than He has done? When was ever His right hand Over any time or
Stretched as now beneath the sun? How they pale, Ancient myth and song and tale,
In this wonder of our days When the cruel rod of war Blossoms white with righteous law,
And the wrath of man is praise! Blotted out! All within and all
Shall a fresher life begin; Freer breathe the universe As it rolls its heavy
On the dead and buried sin! It is done! In the circuit of the
Shall the sound thereof go forth. It shall bid the sad rejoice, It shall give the dumb a voice,
It shall belt with joy the earth! Ring and swing, Bells of joy!
On morning's
Sound the song of praise abroad! With a sound of broken chains Tell the nations that He reigns,
Who alone is Lord and God!
The title of this poem,
Laus Deo, comes from the old Latin Mass and means "Praise be to God!" That the poet saw a divine hand in Congress's passing of the amendment abolishing slavery on January 31, 1865 -- thus putting the capstone on what had been accomplished by four long and arduous years of war -- is evident from the rich biblical imagery used throughout these verses.
