Faintly as tolls the evening chime,
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time.

These lines come from Thomas Moore’s popular song “The Canadian Boat-Song,” a lyric written to be sung in a steady rowing rhythm. The poem evokes an evening voyage by boat, with the distant sound of church bells (“the evening chime”) marking time as the rowers sing together and pull their oars in unison. Moore published the piece in the early 19th century amid a vogue for “national” and travel-themed songs, and it was widely reprinted and set to music. The quoted couplet occurs as part of the refrain-like movement of the song, emphasizing synchronized labor and communal voice during the twilight crossing.

Moore fuses sound, motion, and time into a single image: the bell’s faint toll provides an external measure, while the rowers’ song and strokes supply an internal, human counter-rhythm. “Keep tune” suggests harmony and shared purpose; “keep time” stresses disciplined coordination. The effect is both musical and social—work becomes art through collective cadence. The evening setting adds a reflective, almost elegiac atmosphere: as daylight fades and the bell recedes, the travelers assert continuity and companionship through synchronized effort. The couplet is memorable because it turns a simple physical action (rowing) into a metaphor for communal order and perseverance.