Spirit of the Everlasting Boy

Henry Van Dyke

Ode for the hundredth anniversary of Lawrenceville School

Old Lawrenceville,     
Thy happy bell     
Shall ring to-day,     
O'er vale and hill,     
O'er mead and dell,     
While far away,     
With silent thrill,     
The echoes roll     
Through many a soul,     
That knew thee well,     
In boyhood's day,     
And loves thee still.

Ah, who can tell     
How far away,     
Some sentinel     
Of God's good will,     
In forest cool,     
Or desert gray,     
By lonely pool,     
Or barren hill,     
Shall faintly hear,     
With inward ear,     
The chiming bell,     
Of his old school,
Through darkness pealing;
And lowly kneeling,     
Shall feel the spell     
Of grateful tears     
His eyelids fill;     
And softly pray     
To Him who hears:
God bless old Lawrenceville!

[Excerpt]

This is the sixth and final section of this poem.