Poems (Kennedy)/The Call to Prayer
THE CALL TO PRAYER
(By direction of the rector, Dr. W. D. Buckner, the bell of Calvary Church is rung every day at 12 o'clock as a call to prayer for our soldiers.)
THE city teems with life; the sun,
A golden globe swings high
Where breaks the noon, and in the streets
Is jar of traffic passing by.
Then suddenly above the throng
A bell rings deep and clear,
A drifting wave of melody
That sweeps now far, now near.
A golden globe swings high
Where breaks the noon, and in the streets
Is jar of traffic passing by.
Then suddenly above the throng
A bell rings deep and clear,
A drifting wave of melody
That sweeps now far, now near.
"Lift up your hearts! Lift up your hearts!"
(The spoken words seem there),
"To Him who guards our battle front;
Lift up your hearts in prayer.
Pray hard that o'er our men who fight
On Freedom's blood-stained field
Today the Lord of Hosts may hold
The shelter of His shield."
(The spoken words seem there),
"To Him who guards our battle front;
Lift up your hearts in prayer.
Pray hard that o'er our men who fight
On Freedom's blood-stained field
Today the Lord of Hosts may hold
The shelter of His shield."
And on the crowded thoroughfares
Men bow their heads a space,
And every woman, at her task,
Lifts up a reverent face.
A hush for just one fleeting breath
Falls where the toilers plod
As prayerful thoughts and whispered words
Go winging up to God.
Men bow their heads a space,
And every woman, at her task,
Lifts up a reverent face.
A hush for just one fleeting breath
Falls where the toilers plod
As prayerful thoughts and whispered words
Go winging up to God.
******
The golden sun slips o'er the line,
The high noon hour is past,
The roar of traffic fills the wind,
The sky is lone and vast.
A thousand hearts are thrilled and stirred
As silence settles where—
Muezzin of the Christian tower—
The bell has called to prayer.
The high noon hour is past,
The roar of traffic fills the wind,
The sky is lone and vast.
A thousand hearts are thrilled and stirred
As silence settles where—
Muezzin of the Christian tower—
The bell has called to prayer.