1
00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:09,179
Bellringer, I was given a name, it came
out of a book - I don't know which. I've

2
00:00:09,179 --> 00:00:16,500
been told the Great Man could recite
every title in order on its shelf. Well, I

3
00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:22,320
was born and that was a good thing,
although I arrived on the day of his

4
00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:29,599
passing, a day on which our country fell
into mourning. This I heard over and over,

5
00:00:29,599 --> 00:00:38,219
from professor's to farmers even duel-scarred students, sometimes, in grand

6
00:00:38,219 --> 00:00:45,510
company, remarked upon in third person -
a pretty way of saying more than two men

7
00:00:45,510 --> 00:00:53,160
in a room means the third can be ignored,
as I was when they spoke of my birth and

8
00:00:53,160 --> 00:01:00,690
Mr. Jefferson's death in one breath,
voices dusted with wonderment, faint

9
00:01:00,690 --> 00:01:08,790
sunlight quivering on a hidden breeze. I
listened in on the lectures whenever I

10
00:01:08,790 --> 00:01:15,600
can, holding still until I disappear
beyond third person - and what I hear

11
00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:24,119
sounds right enough; it eases my mind. I
know my appearance frightens some of the

12
00:01:24,119 --> 00:01:31,950
boys - the high cheeks and freckles and
not-quite-Negro eyes flaring gray as

13
00:01:31,950 --> 00:01:39,720
storm-washed skies back home; it shames
them to be reminded. So much for book

14
00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:45,840
learning! I nod as if to say Uncle Henry
at your service,

15
00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:55,409
then continue on my way through darkness
to start the day. This is my place: stone

16
00:01:55,409 --> 00:02:02,990
rookery perched above the citadels of
knowledge, alone with my bats and my bell,

17
00:02:02,990 --> 00:02:11,490
keeping time. Up here, molten glory brims
until my head's rinsed clear.

18
00:02:11,490 --> 00:02:18,330
I am no longer a dreadful coincidence
nor debt crossed off in a dead man's

19
00:02:18,330 --> 00:02:29,520
ledger; I am not summoned, dismissed -
I am the clock's keeper. I ring in their

20
00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:40,670
ears. And every hour, down in that shining,
blistered republic, someone will pause to

21
00:02:40,670 --> 00:02:52,250
whisper Henry! - and for a moment my name flies free.