 DVD  DVD  DVD  DVD  DVD  DVD A Poem by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) A Study Guide . Notes and Annotation by Michael J. Cummings..© 2006 Type of Work and Date of Publication ......."The Bells" is a four-stanza lyric poem that first appeared in 1849 in the November issue of Sartain's Union Magazine of Literature and Art. Poe is said to have sold the poem for $15. The first book to publish the poem was said to be The Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe, printed in London in 1888 by John H. Ingram. .......Poe wrote an early, shorter version of "The Bells" while living in a cottage in the village of Fordham, now part of New York City but then outside the city limits. He had moved from the city to Fordham in 1846 in hopes that its rural atmosphere and climate would improve the health of his wife, Virginia, who was
suffering from tuberculosis. .......Some critics regard the poem as masterly; other critics regard it as shallow and sing-song. The latter critics—including many 20th and 21st Century poets—tend to eschew rhyming poetry because of its emphasis on form and musicality over substance. It is true that the "The Bells" is highly musical, in keeping with Poe's belief that a poem should appeal to the ear. In the November 1849 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger, John Reuben Thomson commented on the musicality of the poem: The poems of Mr. Poe are remarkable above all other characteristics, for the exceeding melody of the versification. “Ulalume” might be cited as a happy instance of this quality, but we prefer to quote “The Bells” from the last number of the Union Magazine. It was the design of the author, as he himself told us, to
express in language the exact sounds of bells to the ear. He has succeeded, we think, far better than [Robert] Southey, who attempted a similar feat, to tell us “how the waters come down at Lodore” (694-697). The Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote a symphony based on the poem. It contains four movements in imitation of the four stanzas of "The Bells," as translated into Russian. Yes, the poem is musical. However, it is not true that it lacks substance, as the analysis on this page attempts to demonstrate. Death ultimately triumphs over life (or, life is a journey toward death). .......The bells ring joyfully in youth. However, even as they ring, death lurks in the background. For example, in the first stanza, the narrator hears the tinkling sleigh bells at night (line 5), meaning the darkness of death (night) is present at the beginning of life. In the second stanza, the bells ringing in celebration of the wedding resound "through the balmy air of night," meaning the darkness of death is present in young adulthood. In third stanza, the bells ring "in the startled ear of night," meaning the darkness of death is present in middle age and later, when fire begins to consume the exuberance of youth. In the fourth stanza, the bells ring "in the silence of the night," meaning death has triumphed over life. The Bells as Death's Accomplice .......In the first stanza, the bells keep time in a "Runic rhyme," a mysterious rhyme that pleases the ear. Thus, the bells become death's accomplice, marking the passing of time—each second, hour, day, year—with beautiful sounds that continue until life ends and the king of the ghouls tolls the death knell (stanza 4). The ghouls, demons who feed on the flesh of the dead, are happy to welcome death's victims. Their happiness mockingly echoes the joy expressed in the first stanza. Moreover, the bells that the ghoul tolls also peal with a "Runic rhyme," like the bells in the first stanza. That characteristic of the bells is the same one that celebrated youth and marriage in stanzas 1 and 2. From the ghouls' perspective, young people are the future food of the ghouls. And married people produce new youths. All the while, the bells keep time, counting each passing moment. .......Onomatopoeia and alliteration occur throughout the poem, helping to support the musicality of the poem. Onomatopoeia, a figure of speech in which a word imitates a sound, occurs in such words as tinkling, jingling, chiming, shriek, twanging, clanging, and clang. Alliteration, in which words repeat consonant sounds, occurs in such groups as "bells, bells, bells" and "tinkle, tinkle, tinkle." Other examples of alliteration are the following:
What a world of merriment their melody foretells! (Stanza 1, third line) What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! (Stanza 2, third line) What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! (Stanza 3, third line) Irony .......The third line of the first stanza (What a world of merriment their melody foretells!) and the third line of second stanza (What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!) are correct in their predictions. Ironically, however, it is the king of the ghouls who fulfills the predictions. Stanza 4 says,
". . . . . .his merry bosom swells" StructureWith 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— .......The poem has four stanzas with end rhyme occurring sometimes in two successive lines, sometimes in three, and sometimes in four. The first three lines of each stanza are exactly the same metrically and structurally, although some of the words change:
Hear the sledges with the bells— .......The second stanza is longer that the first, the third longer than the second, and the fourth longer than the third. The third stanza acts as a sort of climax in which the pace is frantic, with some lines long and some short, like the irregular heartbeat and breathing of a person in death throes. The fourth stanza
celebrates death—and the new life destined for death, as promised by the marriage referred to in the second stanza. Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! Hear the mellow wedding bells, Hear the loud alarum bells— Hear the tolling of the bells— .......Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston. After being orphaned at age two, he was taken into the home of a childless couple—John Allan, a successful businessman in Richmond, Va., and his wife. Allan was believed to be Poe’s godfather. At age six, Poe went to England with
the Allans and was enrolled in schools there. After he returned with the Allans to the U.S. in 1820, he studied at private schools, then attended the University of Virginia and the U.S. Military Academy, but did not complete studies at either school. After beginning his literary career as a poet and prose writer, he married his young cousin, Virginia Clemm. He worked for several magazines and
joined the staff of the New York Mirror newspaper in 1844. All the while, he was battling a drinking problem. After the Mirror published his poem “The Raven” in January 1845, Poe achieved national and international fame. Besides pioneering the development of the short story, Poe invented the format for the detective story as we know it today. He also was an outstanding literary
critic. Despite the acclaim he received, he was never really happy because of his drinking and because of the deaths of several people close to him, including his wife in 1847. He frequently had trouble paying his debts. It is believed that heavy drinking was a contributing cause of his death in Baltimore on October 7, 1849.
By Edgar Allan Poe Published in 1849 1 Hear the sledges with the bells— sledges: Sleighs. Comment: The mood of Stanza 1 is cheerful and, as the third line suggests, optimistic and hopeful. It is as if a child hears the bells during the Christmas season and expects life to give him wonderful presents. However, pay close attention to Line 5: In the icy air of night. This line suggests a
deathly presence (which is cold and dark). 2 Hear the mellow wedding bells, Golden: This word suggests prosperity and promise Comment: The mood of Stanza 2 remains cheerful and upbeat. However, balmy air of night (the fourth line of the stanza) suggests the continuing presence of death. Also, the output of the bells has "matured" from the little tinkling and jingling sounds of Stanza 1 to mellow, golden, and chiming sounds
of this stanza 3 Hear the loud alarum bells— alarum: Alarm. Comment: The mood shifts abruptly in this Stanza to terror and despair as fire consumes the joy and exultation of the previous stanzas. Hope remains that the danger will pass for it ebbs as well as flows and sinks as well as swells. Also, the euphony of sounds in the second stanza (Line 12) becomes a
cacophony of clamor and clangor in this stanza. 4 Hear the tolling of the bells— paean: Hymn of joy, praise, or thanksgiving. Here the word is used mockingly to signify the glee of the king of the ghouls. Comment: The final stanza is funereal as the bells toll solemnly and monotonously. The bell ringer in the steeple—the king of the Ghouls—takes sadistic delight in ringing the death knell, which rolls a stone upon the human heart. To him, the sound of the bell is cheerful and joyful.. 
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