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 pean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the pean 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 de

"euphony" "Runic"

scribe.

Which lines are especially musical and pleasing?

What can you say of the fire-bells
of today?

Words and Phrases for Discussion
"tintinnabulation" "expostulation"
"'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;

5 And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

10

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 wingèd seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,

15 A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;

20

25

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

30 And neither the angels in heaven above,

35

40

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 repetition 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?

Why did the angels "covet" and
"envy" the lovers?

How strong was this love?
Why does not the lover feel sepa-
rated from Annabel Lee?
Do you like this poem? Why?

Words and Phrases for Discussion

"winged seraphs'' "sounding sea'' "highborn kinsmen''

"coveted"

"sepulchre"
"'envying"

5

10

15

OPPORTUNITY *

EDWARD ROWLAND SILL

THIS I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:—
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged

A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle's edge,

And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel

That blue blade that the king's son bears, but this
Blunt thing—!” he snapt and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.

Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,

And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

* By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

HELPS TO STUDY

Biographical: Edward Rowland Sill was born in Connecticut in 1841. He graduated at Yale and lived most of his life in California, being for some years professor of English language and literature at the State University. Sill was a true poet, but the whole of his literary output is contained in two slender volumes. His poems are noted for their compressed thought. The selection here given shows this quality. Notes and Questions

What do you learn from this poem? Where was the craven when he decided his sword was useless? What word shows that he was there of his own choice?

What kind of sword had the craven?

What words tell you that he was

greatly needed in the thick of the conflict?

What kind of sword had the king's son?

How long did the king's son look at the discarded sword before

using it?

If the battle represents life, and the craven and the king's son are types of the people in the world, what do you think the swords represent?

Why is this poem called "Opportunity''?

Can you think of another title

which might be given to it? Such a story as this is called an allegory.

"furious'-What is a furious bat

tle?

Words and Phrases for Discussion "bestead"

"craven"
"shocked"

"hung along the battle's edge"

"hemmed by foes"

5

TO A WATERFOWL

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

WHITHER, midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
Far through their rosy depths dost thou pursue
Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler's eye

Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,

Thy figure floats along.