Lightning and thunder I break asunder,
On Sabbath all to church I call,
The sleepy head I raise from bed,
The winds so fierce I do disperse,
Men’s cruel rage I do assuage.
On the famous alarm-bell called Roland, in the belfry-tower of the once powerful city of Ghent, is engraved the subjoined inscription, in the old Walloon or Flemish dialect:—
Mynen naem is Roland; als ik klep is er brand,
and als ik luy is er victorie in het land.
Anglicé. My name is Roland; when I toll there is fire,
and when I ring there is victory in the land.