Thus bell and whistle with clang and shriek,
At six o’clock and six times a week.
Loveliest hour of all the day,
Blest is thy sweet and mystic sway:
Affection and hope in their might are rife
In each watching child; in the waiting wife;
The father that tramps from his daily strife;
The widow’s son and his fond embrace;
In the smile that beams on her pallid face.
Who hath not felt the wondrous spell,