The Bells
I.
Hear the sledges with the bells—
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells—
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.II.
Hear the mellow wedding bells,
Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight!
From the molten-golden notes,
And all in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Oh, from out the sounding cells,
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
How it swells!
How it dwells
On the Future! how it tells
Of the rapture that impels
To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells—
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!III.
Hear the loud alarum bells—
Brazen bells!
What tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek,
Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Leaping higher, higher, higher,
With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor
Now—now to sit or never,
By the side of the pale-faced moon.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows;
Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling.
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells—
Of the bells—
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells—
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!IV.
Hear the tolling of the bells—
Iron bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy menace of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people—ah, the people—
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All alone,
And who tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone—
They are neither man nor woman—
They are neither brute nor human—
They are Ghouls:
And their king it is who tolls;
And he rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A pæan from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the pæan of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the pæan of the bells—
Of the bells:
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells—
Of the bells, bells, bells—
To the sobbing of the bells;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells—
Of the bells, bells, bells—
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells—
Bells, bells, bells—
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
Summary of The Bells
- Popularity of “The Bells”: Written by Edgar Alan Poe, a great American poet and writer, “The Bells” is a metaphorical, poetic piece. It appeared in a periodical, Sarrain’s Union, in 1849. In this poem, the writer represents different stages of life. He beautifully connects the bell, a simple unnoticed object, and its melody to the life cycle. However, how Poe joins different chimes to life has made this poem popular across the globe.
- “The Bells” As a Representative of Wonder: This sad poem features various sounds of different bells and the events they stand for. The poem begins with the description of silver bells whose chime brings delight to ears. The tinkling of silver bells spreads happiness not only on the earth but also at night in the sky, where stars seem to sway. In the second part, the speaker progresses toward the golden wedding bells, producing a melodic sound that even the turtle dove wants to listen to. The speaker brilliantly accounts for the happiness that the ringing of the golden bells spreads.
The tone of the poem changes in the third stanza, where the speaker talks about the brazen bells. The bells are ringing quickly and turbulently, screaming out their fright. Their constant ringing pours out horror into the air. Last comes the ringing of the iron bells. Although they are not ringing rigorously, the nature of loss, fear, and melancholy have not changed. Everyone, who hears, knows that their ringing reflects sorrow and fear. The speaker ends this poem while talking about the people who ring these bells and take pleasure while making breath-taking announcements. - Major Themes in “The Bells”: Happiness, life, death, and agony are the poem’s major themes. It is a musical work that showcases the mimicry of many sounds of bells. The changing chimes of the bells in four stanzas mark the cycle of our life. The writer has artistically connected these different bells to our life. For instance, the silver bells announce humankind’s birth, spreading happiness to the earth. The golden bell shows further positive progression in man’s life when he embraces love and joy in the form of marriage. However, slowly time drags him to experience the ringing of iron bells. The first two bells predict a bright future, while the next two speak of the terrible present. In the end, the only happy persons are the kings of the ghouls who seek pleasure in the sorrow.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in The Bells
Edgar Allan Poe used many literary devices in this poem to relate the chimes of the bells to human life. The analysis of the devices used in the poem is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “They are neither brute nor human” and the sound of /o/ in “And who tolling, tolling, tolling.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “They are neither brute nor human” and the sound of /n/ in “At the melancholy menace of their tone.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;”
- Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. The ending of the poem shows situational irony, where only people who ring the bell are happy, such as; “As he knells, knells, knells,/In a happy Runic rhyme.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Poe used imagery in this poem, such as; “And he dances, and he yells;” and “What a world of solemn thought their monody compels.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet has used emotions as an extended metaphor in the poem to show how our emotion changes with the situation.
- Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects. The poet has personified bells in the poem, such as “To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism uses symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal ones. The poem shows symbols such as joy, sorrow, melancholy, and emotions.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The Bells
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: The poem shows descriptive diction having rhetorical devices, symbolism, and impressive images.
- Repetition: There is a repetition of the verse “Bells, bells, bells” which has created a musical quality in the poem.
- Refrain: The lines repeated at some distance in the poems are called a refrain. The verse “Bells, bells, bells” is repeated with the same words. Therefore, it has become a refrain.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are four stanzas in this poem, with each comprising a different number of verses.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote while talking about the good experience of his life.
“Hear the sledges with the bells—
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!”
