Those Evening Bells
by
Those evening bells, those evening bells,
How many a tale their music tells,–
Of Yorkshire cakes and crumpets prime,
And letters only just in time!
The Muffin-boy has passed away,
The Postman gone–and I must pay,
For down below Deaf Mary dwells,
And does not hear those Evening Bells.[A]
And so ’twill be when she is gone,
That tuneful peal will still ring on,
And other maids with timely yells
Forget to stay those Evening Bells.
[Footnote A: The muffin-boy, with his “evening bell,” is still in the land; but the evening postman, perambulating the streets and collecting etters “just in time,” has “passed away” for ever.]