THE TINTINNABULATION OF THE BELLS … Edgar Allen Poe
When I first saw this poem, it was in a book of parody in the section marked “self-parody.” Where a poet or writer went so far over the top, that the writing was a literal parody of his own typical writing.
And thus I present to you Edgar Allen Poe’s “Bells.”
The Bells, Edgar Allan Poe, 1809 – 1849
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.
Categories: Daily Prompt, Humor, poem, Poetry
I love Poe
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I do too. But that’s an awful poem, Poe or not!
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Worst or funniest, this was a clever use of the prompt. Well done and thank you.
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Thank you 🙂 I can’t hear the word “tintinnabulation” without hearing “Bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells.” I read it when I was a teenager and it just got stuck in the brain and never went away 😀
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One poem by Poe I hadn’t read. Don’t know how I missed it, but I did, so thankyou 🙂
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It’s probably his worst (ever) poem, but funny.
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It is funny. Glad I’m not the only one to think so haha
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Oh, no. I discovered the poem in a book of parody, in this section, self-parody where authors wrote their own stuff really BADLY. It really is an awful poem.
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I thought at first someone erlse po sing as Poe wrote it then I thought wth?
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Excellent, thanks for posting it.
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Poe’s worst poem, resplendent!
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This is a new one to me.
Leslie
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Awful, isn’t it?
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The bells seem to have so many different meanings…
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Bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells … just the ringing and the jingling of the bells, bells, bells …
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In all our travels the one thing I’ve noticed that almost every culture has a bell tower. It’s usually to warn people about fire etc.
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