Oh, servant faithful, tried, and true,
Through sunshine, storm, and shower,
Thy face for nearly forty years
Has graced the court-house tower;
Thy hands have never idle hung,
Thy face was always cheery,
Thy ever-swinging pendulum
Seemed never, never weary.
When we were late to work or school,
How gently didst thou chide us,
Telling in soft and muffled chimes
How swiftly time glides by us.
Oh, how the workman loved thy voice,
When thou, at set of sun,
Proclaimed in softest, sweetest chimes,
That his day's work was done.
But to us all it lost its charm,
And sounded cross and surly,
When wakened by its loud alarm
In morning, oh, so early!
The maple trees that spread their boughs
O'er the court-house yard below,
Each year yield up their foliage
To winter's frost and snow.
The birds that nest and sing among
Their boughs in summer time,
When winter winds begin to blow,
All seek a sunny clime.
But thou, oh, tried and faithful one,
Wert always just the same,
Keeping the time with merry chime
Through sunshine, snow, and rain.
For forty years thou'st kept the time,
While in the court below
Stood he who perpetrated crime,
Waiting his doom to know;
And when a murderer was tried,
Who, for a little pay,
Did take the life of a trusting friend,
In a hut not far away,
"One, two, three," we heard thee say,
In measured tones and slow,
As forth, to be tried in heav'nly courts,
His blood-stained soul did go.
Oh, cruel was thy fate, old clock!
For many days ago
Thy old familiar face was crushed
By workmen's sturdy blow.
They say they'll build a new court-house,
And that they will replace
By timepiece handsome, bright and new
Thy old storm-beaten face.
Then thou, oh, servant tried and true,
Through storm, sunshine, and show'r,
The music of thy mellow chimes
We'll hear again no more.