“If I Were a Bell”
Lyrics: Vera Moller.
Tune: Unknown.
If I were a bell, a mighty bell,
With a voice that was loud and deep.
And whenever I will it, the world must hear
And never a man could sleep;
I would never be still whilst evil reigned,
Or there was a wrong to right,
But I’d raise a clamor till none could rest
And no one could sleep by night.
If I were a bell, and prison walls
Held true men in a living tomb,
I’d shout my protest unto the stars.
Til it seemed like the voice of doom.
If I were a bell and each clapper stroke
Meant agony, still I would ring.
If it needed one more stroke and that stroke meant death,
Yet once more I’d gallantly swing.
And men might endeavor to shut me out,
And to stifle my voice in vain,
For I’d beat the story into their hearts
And hammer it into their brain.
If I woke the valleys and shook the hills
With echoes to peal on peal,
With a sound like thunder, I could but voice
What so many hearts now feel.
And for every heart, there’s a worker’s voice
And a worker’s hand to do,
And we’ll never rest, till the doors swing wide,
And the prisoners all come through.
And we’ll strike and strike, till they feel our power,
In the halls where the mighty dwell,
And our song of victory shall ring afar
Like the sound of a mighty bell.