The bells throw bridges across the yawning chasms of space, and link up hearts that stand severed by the tyrannies of time. In his Golden Legend, Longfellow describes Prince Henry and Elsie standing in the twilight on the terrace of the old castle of Vautsberg on the Rhine. Suddenly they catch the strains of distant bells. Elsie asks what bells they are. The Prince replies:
They are the bells of Geisenheim,
That, with their melancholy chime,
Ring out the curfew of the sun.
And then he adds:
Dear Elsie, many years ago
Those same soft bells at eventide
Rang in the ears of Charlemagne,
As, seated at Fastrada's side,
At Ingelheim, in all his pride,