At what time did Grandfather enter?

20 Dec 06 - 10:52 AM (#1914803)
Subject: At What Time Did Grandfather Enter?
From: masato sakurai

The second stanza of "Grandfather's Clock" says, "For it struck twenty-four when he entered at the door." Was it 12 o'clock at midnight? Then, why did it strike twenty-four instead of twelve? A tall clock I know strikes only twelve.

2. In watching its pendulum swing to and fro,
Many hours had he spent while a boy;
And its childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know
And to share both his grief and his joy.
For it struck twenty-four when he entered at the door,
With a blooming and beautiful bride;
But it stopp'd short-- never to go again--
When the old man died.

~Masato

---

20 Dec 06 - 10:55 AM (#1914806)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Mo the caller

It struck twenty four because it got carried away with the occasion, and it wanted to ryhme.

Of course.

---

20 Dec 06 - 10:57 AM (#1914811)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: MMario

yup - that's what I always assummed - it "struck twenty four" when grandfather got married because it was celebrating....

---

20 Dec 06 - 11:05 AM (#1914823)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Scrump

If the clock keeps 24-hour time (as opposed to 12-hour), it would have to strike 24 at midnight, because the alternative would be to strike zero times, and that would be inaudible, and therefore useless to anyone relying on hearing it chime the hour.

It's the same reason a 12-hour clock strikes 12 at noon and midnight, rather than zero.

---

20 Dec 06 - 11:24 AM (#1914843)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Snuffy

Did anyone make 24-hour chiming clocks?

I always assumed that striking 24 was something totally out of the ordinary to celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime event.

---

20 Dec 06 - 11:25 AM (#1914845)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Paul Burke

"When the Clock Struck Zero" by John Taylor is worth reading, even if it isn't in the song.

---

20 Dec 06 - 11:27 AM (#1914847)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Peace

I always thought he'd married at the age of 24. (I love that song BTW.)

---

20 Dec 06 - 11:31 AM (#1914849)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Tom Hamilton frae Saltcoats Scotland

1984 by George Orwell the clocks there strike 13

---

20 Dec 06 - 11:36 AM (#1914856)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Peace

I think Big Ben (OK, the clock in the Big Ben tower) struck 13 in a James Bond (OK, Ian Fleming novel about James Bond) story.

---

20 Dec 06 - 11:41 AM (#1914864)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Uncle_DaveO

Peace:

You were right to begin with. Big Ben struck 13 (if that's what the story says), because "Big Ben" is the bell, not the clock. Okay, maybe the clock struck Big Ben 13 times in the story.

Dave Oesterreich

---

20 Dec 06 - 11:44 AM (#1914870)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Rapparee

I'd always thought what Peace said -- he was married at 24.

We had (and my brother still has) my grandparents old pendulum mantel clock. Once it struck 12 and kept going for over an hour -- nobody dead or anything, just broken. It really got on my grandmother's nerves!

---

20 Dec 06 - 11:52 AM (#1914876)
Subject: RE: At What Time did Grandfather enter?
From: Peace

Thank you Dave. I sorta recall something about Big Ben and its history, heavy on the sorta.

---