Thursday, January 23, 2014

The Voice of Bells

Bells of the church of San Giovanni Battista, Saint John the Baptist church, Livorno
The bells of the church of San Giovanni Battista (Saint John the Baptist), in Via Carraia.

Laudo Deum verum, plebem voco, congrego clerum!
Defunctos ploro, pestem fugo, festa decoro!
Funera plango, fulgora frango, sabbata pango!
Excito lentos, dissipo ventos, paco cruentos!
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Legend, 1851)

(I praise the true God, I call the people, I assemble the clergy!
I bewail the dead, I put to flight plague, I honor the feasts!
I mourn at funerals , I scatter the thunderbolts, I call the sabbaths!
I hustle the sluggards, I drive away storms, I proclaim peace after a bloodshed!)

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9 comments:

  1. RevrunnerJanuary 23, 2014 at 12:13 AM

    "I hustle the sluggards." :-)

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  2. Luis GomezJanuary 23, 2014 at 1:10 AM

    Love the sound of church bells.

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  3. MichelleJanuary 23, 2014 at 1:14 AM

    Church bells are always inspiring. We have some here in my small town.

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  4. RandyJanuary 23, 2014 at 3:17 AM

    Beautiful.

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  5. DinaJanuary 23, 2014 at 7:03 AM

    Wonderful old bells!
    Read the concise Latin lines aloud and it sounds like bells clanging!
    Thanks for introducing me to this work of Longfellow; its a keeper.

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  6. cieldequimperJanuary 23, 2014 at 8:28 AM

    I wish I could hear it. I love the sound of bells.

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  7. UnknownJanuary 23, 2014 at 8:15 PM

    Beautiful bell and great shot, VP.

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  8. Traveling HawkJanuary 23, 2014 at 10:55 PM

    I like to photograph bells when I have the ocassion. If I think more, there must be a lot of bell photos in my collection, from different countries.

    Nice framing, V.P.!

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  9. JackJanuary 24, 2014 at 4:08 AM

    Your photograph is lovely, VP, and the Longfellow poem is a special treat.

    I am sure that Bernard and Claude would be proud for a day on aBoB.

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