The poem—Ralph Hodgson’s “’Twould ring the bells of Heaven The wildest peal for years, If Parson lost his senses And people came to theirs …”—was one of Frank’s favourites.
The Bells of Heaven
’Twould ring the bells of heaven,
The wildest peal for years,
If Parson lost his senses
And people came to theirs.
And he and they together
Knelt down with angry prayers
For tamed and shabby tigers,
And dancing dogs and bears,
And wretched, blind pit ponies,
And little hunted hares.
Ralph Hodgson (9 September 1871 – 3 November 1962), Order of the Rising Sun (Japanese