The Bells (1849) is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, published after his death. In four sections it imitates the sounds of sledge bells, wedding bells, alarm bells and funeral bells, moving from joy to terror and mourning.
Four kinds of bells
The first section evokes the merry silver bells of sledges on a frosty night, the second the golden bells of a wedding. The third brings the brazen alarm bells of a fire, the fourth the iron bells tolling for the dead.
The mood darkens at each stage, as life moves from youth to marriage, danger and death.
A poem of sound
Poe uses repetition, internal rhymes and onomatopoeia so that the words themselves ring; the word bells is repeated dozens of times.
The poem is often cited as an extreme example of his theory that poetry should aim at musical effect above all.
Composition
Poe began the poem in 1848 at the home of his friend Marie Louise Shew, near the bells of a church in New York, and expanded it over the following months.
It appeared in Sartain's Union Magazine in November 1849, a month after his death. Rachmaninoff based his choral symphony The Bells (1913) on a Russian translation.
Anecdotes
A friend's suggestion
According to Marie Louise Shew, Poe complained he had no ideas, and she wrote the first lines of a poem about bells to start him off; he took it from there.
A Russian symphony
Rachmaninoff's choral symphony The Bells used Konstantin Balmont's free Russian version of the poem, and became one of the composer's own favourite works.
Frequently asked questions
What are the four kinds of bells in the poem?
Sledge bells, wedding bells, alarm bells and funeral bells.
When was The Bells published?
In November 1849, a month after Poe's death.
Which composer set it to music?
Sergei Rachmaninoff, in a choral symphony of 1913.