2007
The Sobbing of the Bells
Composed by Caryn Block
Text by 
Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman Long, Too Long America Song Collection
"The Sobbing of the Bells" is the second song from Caryn Block's song cycle Long, Too Long America. The song cycle is for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and piano.
The audio clip was provided by Caryn Block. The performance took place on January 14, 2012 and was a workshop reading of Long, Too Long America given by The Opera Project at St. Andrew's Church in Lambertville, New Jersey.
Text
The Sobbing of the Bells
by Walt Whitman
The sobbing of the bells, the sudden death-news everywhere,t
The slumberers rouse, the rapport of the People,t
(Full well they know that message in the darkness,t
Full well return, respond within their breasts, their brains, the sad reverberations,)t
The passionate toll and clang—city to city, joining, sounding, passing,
Those heart-beats of a Nation in the night.
(September 1881)