For centuries the bells have called
through countless ringers’ hands
To come to worship, prayer and song
the people of these lands

The bells fell silent one by one
as ringers went to war
They’d heard the call to go to fight
the war to end all wars

Four years on the guns fell still
and most of them returned
Their families embraced them back
they went to join their bands

The broken bones that many had
would mend in time they hoped
But those whose limbs were lost in war
would never hold a rope

And men with shell-shock could not bear
to hear the bells again
The sound brought back the crash of shells
the cries of dying men

Now fourteen hundred ringers lie
beneath a distant sky
Though silent, still we hear their call
their spirits ring on high

They call to us to ring the bells
to learn the ancient art
So England evermore shall hear
the nations beating heart