How sweet the chime of the Sabbath bells!
Each one its creed in music tells,
In tones that float upon the air,
As soft as song, as pure as prayer;
And I will put in simple rhyme
The language of the golden chime.
My happy heart with rapture swells
Responsive to the bells, sweet bells.

In deeds of love excel, excel!
Chimed out from ivied towers a bell,
This is the church not built on sands,
Emblem of one not built with hands;
Its forms and sacred rites revere;
Come, worship here, come, worship here;
In ritual and faith excel,
Chimed out the Episcopalian bell.

Oh, heed ye ancient landmarks well,
In solemn tones exclaimed a bell;
No progress made by mortal man
Can change the just, eternal plan:
With God there can be nothing new;
Ignore the false, embrace the true,
While all is well, is well, is well,
Pealed out the good old Dutch church bell.

Ye purifying waters swell,
In mellow tones rang out a bell:
Though faith alone in Christ can save,
Man must be plunged beneath the wave,
To show the world unfaltering faith
In what the sacred Scripture saith:
O, swell, ye rising waters, swell,
Pealed out the clear-toned Baptist bell.

Not faith alone, but works, as well.
Must test the soul, said a soft bell:
Come here and cast aside your load,
And work your way along the road.
With faith in God, and faith in man,
And hope in Christ, where hope began:
Do well, do well, do well, do well!
Rang out the Unitarian bell.

Farewell, farewell, base world, farewell,
In touching tones exclaimed a bell;
Life is a boon to mortals given,
To fit the soul for bliss in heaven:
Do not invoke the avenging rod,
Come here and learn the way to God;
Say to the world farewell, farewell!
Pealed forth the Presbyterian bell.

In after life there is no hell!
In raptures rang a cheerful bell:
Look up to heaven this holy day,
Where angels wait to lead the way;
There are no fires, no fiends to blight
The future life: be just and right.
No hell, no hell, no hell, no hell!
Rang out the Universalist bell.

To all the truth we tell, we tell!
Shouted in ecstasies a bell:
Come, all ye weary wanderers, see.
Our Lord has made salvation free!
Repent, believe, have faith, and then
Be saved and praise the Lord. Amen,
Salvation’s free, we tell, we tell!
Shouted the Methodistic bell.

George Washington Bungay,
In Waifs, and Their Authors, by
Alphonso Alva Hopkins, 1879