*THE SILENCED BELL

The poem, ‘Curfew Must not Ring Tonight’ by Rose Hartwick Thorpe written in 1867 is based on an incident during the reign of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) 

 It describes the deep love of Bessie, a young and beautiful girl, with the young soldier, Basil Underwood. The soldier was charged with a crime and imprisoned. He was tried, found guilty and condemned to be shot dead at the moment when the bell rings to signal the evening curfew.

The executioners were waiting to hear the curfew bell to carry out the execution. Exactly at the prescribed moment, the bell-ringer grabbed the large rope and pulled it with full force to sound the huge bell. The bell moved but there was no sound. He pulled several times but the bell was silent. Cromwell sent soldiers to investigate why the bell did not sound.

 They found that Bessie, the soldier’s fiancée had climbed to the top of the bell tower and tied herself to the huge clapper hanging in the heavy bell to prevent its striking against the bell. She was knocked back and forth and smashed between the bell and the clapper with every pull of the rope. Her head, hands and ribs were crushed. 

She was produced before Cromwell with a bruised and bleeding body. Cromwell was deeply impressed by her willingness to suffer for love. He appreciated her heroic and courageous action and immediately pardoned the prisoner. He said to the lady, “Your lover shall live because of your sacrifice. Curfew shall not ring tonight.”.. 

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 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans‬ 8:35-39

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