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 tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells-- From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
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!
Hear the loud alarum bells-- Brazen bells!
What a 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 tw.a.n.ging 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!
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 m.u.f.fled 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 paean from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the paean 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.
HELPS TO STUDY.
Biographical and Historical: Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19th, 1809. Both his parents were members of a theatrical troupe then playing in Boston. He was left an orphan at the age of three years, and was adopted by a wealthy Virginia planter and by him educated in England and elsewhere. Owing to his erratic habits, Poe"s foster-father disowned him, and after that life for him was a constant battle with poverty. His prose tales abound in adventure, allegory, and the supernatural. His poetry is full of imagery, beauty, and melody.
Notes and Questions.
What kinds of bells does the poet seek to reproduce the sound of?
Which bells has he described best?
Point out words particularly suited to express the sound they describe.
Which lines are especially musical and pleasing?
What can you say of the fire-bells of today?
Words and Phrases for Discussion.
"euphony"
"tintinnabulation"
"expostulation"
"Runic"
"crystalline"
"palpitating"
ANNABEL LEE
EDGAR ALLAN POE
It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea: But we loved with a love that was more than love-- I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsmen came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me-- Yes!--that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we-- Of many far wiser than we-- And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling,--my darling,--my life and my bride, In the sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea.
HELPS TO STUDY.
Notes and Questions.
Like "The Bells," this poem is musical and the words are chosen with reference to this quality.
Notice that the repet.i.tion of the word "many" adds to the music of the first line.
Find other lines in which a word is repeated for the sake of melody.
Find lines in which rhymes occur.
Mention lines that are especially pleasing to you.
What reason is given for the death of Annabel Lee?