WEBVTT

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Two more.

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This one-- as you know, I
come from the University

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of Virginia.

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I've been teaching
there for some twenty--

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I shouldn't even
tell you how long.

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A long time.

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It was built by
Thomas Jefferson,

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thanks to the labor
of his slaves.

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And one of those
slaves was a man

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by the name of Henry Martin,
who was born on the day

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that Thomas Jefferson died, July
4th, ironically enough, 1826.

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He was the bellringer.

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He rang the bell
for the classes.

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And this is his.

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"Bellringer."

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I was given a name.

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It came out of a book.

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I don't know which.

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I've been told the Great
Man could recite every title

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in order on its shelf.

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Well, I was born, and
that's a good thing,

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although I arrived on
the day of his passing,

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a day on which our country
fell into mourning.

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This I heard over and over, from
professors, to farmers, even

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duel-scarred students,
sometimes, in grand company,

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remarked upon in third
person, a pretty way of saying

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more than two men in a room
means the third can be ignored,

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as I was when they
spoke of my birth

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and Mr. Jefferson's
death in one breath,

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voices dusted with wonderment,
faint sunlight quivering

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on a hidden breeze.

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I listen in on the
lectures whenever I can,

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holding still until I
disappear beyond third person.

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And what I hear
sounds right enough.

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It eases my mind.

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I know my appearance
frightens some of the boys.

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The high cheeks and freckles
and not-quite-Negro eyes,

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flaring gray as storm-washed
skies back home.

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It shames them to be reminded.

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So much for book learning.

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I nod as if to say, "Uncle
Henry at your service,"

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then continue on my way through
darkness to start the day.

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This is my place,
stone rookery perched

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above the citadels of knowledge,
alone with my bats and my bell,

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keeping time.

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Up here, molten glory brims
until my head's rinsed clear.

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I am no longer a
dreadful coincidence,

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nor debt crossed off
in a dead man's ledger.

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I am not summoned, dismissed.

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I am the clock's keeper.

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I ring in their ears.

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And every hour, down
in that shining,

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blistered republic, someone
will pause to whisper, "Henry."

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And for a moment,
my name flies free.

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