Tolling, tolling, tolling!
All the bells of the land!
Lo, the patriot martyr
Taketh his journey grand!
Travels into the ages,
Bearing a hope how dear!
Into life's unknown vistas,
Liberty's great pioneer.
Tolling, tolling, tolling!
See, they come as a cloud,
Hearts of a mighty people,
Bearing his pall and shroud;
Lifting up, like a banner,
Signals of loss and woe;
Wonder of breathless nations,
Moveth the solemn show.
Tolling, tolling, tolling!
Was it, O man beloved,
Was it thy funeral only
Over the land that moved?
[Illustration: ROTUNDA, CITY HALL, NEW YORK, N. Y.]
The remains of President Lincoln lay in state in the City Hall, New
York, from noon April 24 to noon April 25, 1865. Visitors were
admitted to view the remains, passing through the Hall two abreast.
Singing societies sang dirges in the rotunda the night through.
Richard Storrs Willis was born in Boston, Massachusetts, February 10,
1819, was graduated at Yale in 1841, and adopted literature as his
profession. He has published musical and other poems; has edited the
_New York Musical World_ and _Once a Week_, and contributed also to
current literature. He wrote the following: