Quote#God & Faith
But the sound of the church-going bell
Quote byWilliam Cowper · 1731–1800
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk (1782), Reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
English (original)
But the sound of the church-going bell These valleys and rocks never heard; Ne'er sigh'd at the sound of a knell, Or smiled when a Sabbath appear'd.
— William Cowper
More from William Cowper
Man disobeys, and deity disowns me.
But oars alone can ne'er prevail To reach the distant coast; The breath of Heaven must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost.
Absence from whom we love is worse than death, And frustrate hope severer than despair.
Beware of desp'rate steps! The darkest day (Live till tomorrow) will have passed away.
Damned below Judas; more abhorred than he was.
Oh! I could thresh his old jacket till I made his pension jingle in his pockets.