Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Bexley Hall has a School Song... and it is rather good.


So in the midst of my work in the archives of Bexley Hall a dinner card fell out with a dinner card that included the words for the Bexley Hall Call, or school song. I have no idea what tune it would originally been sung to (its metre is 11 11 11 5) but a friend and I went to the organ and played around with several possible settings and found that K. Lee Scott’s Shades Mountain fit rather perfectly. I find the whole thing rather endearing, if not exceptionally grande, and suggest we start singing it on a regular basis at all official events.

The Bexley Hall Call

O World, thy burning bush beside Kokosing,[1]
Through flames of life thine urgent Voice disclosing,
Calleth afar o’er woodland, hill, and hollow
We follow, follow

O Sky, thy birds fly north, fly south incessant,
Obeying signals of thy changing crescent,
All Doves of God, though winged like the swallow,
We follow, follow.

O Dawn, thy music sounds along the valley;
No living thing, on hearing it may dally;
O sweeter far than harp-strings of Apollo
We follow, follow.

O Voice of Love, beside the Jordan river!
It drew the fisherfolk, it draws us ever.[2]
It calls, it calls, o’er woodland, hill, and hollow
We follow, follow.

Author: Unknown



[1] Kokosing is a river in Ohio that runs near the original home of Bexley Hall
[2] Original Text: It drew the fishermen, it draws men ever