I

Hear the sledges with the bells —

Silver bells!

What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,

5

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,

10

In a sort of Runic rhyme,

[[n]]

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. [page 123:]

II

15

[[n]]

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! —

20

[[n]]

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!

25

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

30

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 —

35

To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! [page 124:]

III

Hear the loud alarum bells —

Brazen bells!

What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!

In the startled ear of Night

40

[[n]]

How they scream out their affright!

Too much horrified to speak,

They can only shriek, shriek,

Out of tune,

45

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,

50

[[n]]

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!

55

What a horror they outpour

[[n]]

On the bosom of the palpitating air!

Yet the ear, it fully knows,

By the twanging

And the clanging,

60

How the danger ebbs and flows;

[[n]]

Yes, the ear distinctly tells,

In the jangling

And the wrangling,

How the danger sinks and swells,

65

[[n]]

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! [page 125:]

IV

70

[[n]]

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

75

[[n]]

At the melancholy menace of their tone!

For every sound that floats

[[n]]

From the rust within their throats

Is a groan.

And the people — ah, the people —

80

[[n]]

They that dwell up in the steeple,

All alone,

And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,

In that muffled monotone,

Feel a glory in so rolling

85

On the human heart a stone —

They are neither man nor woman —

They are neither brute nor human —

[[n]]

They are Ghouls: —

And their king it is who tolls: —

90

And he rolls, rolls, rolls,

[[n]]

Rolls

A Pæan from the bells!

And his merry bosom swells

With the Pæan of the bells!

95

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: —

100

Keeping time, time, time,

In a sort of Runic rhyme,

To the throbbing of the bells — [page 126:]

Of the bells, bells, bells —

To the sobbing of the bells: —

105

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: —

110

To the tolling of the bells —

Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,

Bells, bells, bells —

To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

(1849)

The bells! — hear the bells!

The merry wedding bells!

The little silver bells!

How fairy-like a melody there swells

From the silver tinkling cells

Of the bells, bells, bells!

Of the bells!

 

The bells! — ah, the bells!

The heavy iron bells!

Hear the tolling of the bells!

Hear the knells!

How horrible a monody there floats

From their throats —

From their deep-toned throats!

How I shudder at the notes

From the melancholy throats

Of the bells, bells, bells —

Of the bells —