Poems of Charles Warren Stoddard - 1917 Author:Charles Warren Stoddard Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE BELLS OF SAN GABRIEL (The Mission of San Gabriel Arcangel, near Los Angeles, founded in 1771, was, for a time, the most flourishing mission in California.... more ») Thine was the corn and the wine, The blood of the grape that nourished; The blossom and fruit of the vine That was heralded far away. These were thy gifts; and thine, When the wine and the fig-tree flourished, The promise of peace and of glad increase Forever and ever and aye. What then wert thou, and what art now? Answer me O, I pray I And every note of every bell Sang Gabriel I rang Gabriel 1 In the tower that is left the tale to tell Of Gabriel, the Archangel. THE BELLS OF SAN GABRIEL Oil of the olive was thine; Flood of the wine-press flowing, Blood of the Christ was the wine— Blood of the Lamb that was slain. Thy gifts were fat of the kine Forever coming and going Far over the hills, the thousand hills— Their lowing a soft refrain. What then wert thou, and what art now? Answer me, once again! And every note of every bell Sang Gabriel 1 rang Gabriel! In the tower that is left the tale to tell Of Gabriel, the Archangel. Seed of the corn was thine— Body of Him thus broken And mingled with blood of the vine— The bread and the wine of life. Out of the good sunshine They were given to thee as a token— The body of Him, and the blood of Him, When the gifts of God were rife. What then wert thou, and what art now After the weary strife ? THE BELLS OF SAN GABRIEL And every note of every bell Sang Gabriel I rang Gabriel! In the tower that is left the tale to tell Of Gabriel, the Archangel. Where are they now, O bells? Where are the fruits of the Mission? Garnered, where no one dwells, Shepherd and flock are fled. O'er the Lord's vineyard swells ...« less