The Bells Were Silent

When I awoke on the morning after the miners' miracle to find it had all been a cruel dream, I considered editing my original pronouncement of joy and hope. In retrospect I think this would be a mistake. Hope is not gone from the world, but as these families suffer not only grief, but the cruel severity of such an unthinkable reversal of fortune, I think both the error of the early announcment and the celebration that SHOULD have ended this ordeal bears remembering.

Once again I borrow the words of another poet where my own fail:

And then there came a shadow, swift and sudden, dark and drear;
The bells were silent, not an echo stirred.
The flags were drooping sullenly, the men forgot to cheer;
We waited, and we never spoke a word...
-- Robert Service