Personal Response On Edgar Allen Poe's The Bells

1208 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Edgar Allan Poe's influence on literature

After reading this poem for the second time I could tell that this was a time line of someone’s life, being narrated by the ‘king’ of the Ghouls or Satan. Poe’s plot is to vividly describe the four specific points in this person’s life. He does this by utilizing the various sounds of bells and giving them some human characteristics. Each individual sound of the bells express certain moods to coincide with what they mean; from birth, to marriage, to taking ill and finally to death. All descriptions were distinct in their meanings to me and communicated what they needed to mean. The first of the bells to sound are the ‘silver’ bells, suggesting the first stage in life. To me this signifies birth and how ecstatic one is by the birth of their child. I can remember how I felt after I delivered my children. I was so emotional I did not know if I should cry as I was still in pain or giggle like a little girl because I was so happy. Poe writes “In the icy air of night!” (I.5). He then goes on to say “All the heavens, seem to twinkle with crystalline delight.” (I.7). Seeming to suggest that down the line something devastating will take place. For now all is pristine and wholesome. At first look, I took this as a pleasant Christmas Eve with the snow frosting over from the lower than average temperatures. The cloudless sky allowing stars to look like they were winking. After reading more, I began to interpret this as the start of someone’s time on this earth. This is the shortest, and the most pleasurable stanza of the poem. It describes a time of rejoicing, “From the jingling and tinkling of the bells” (I.14). Now sounding are the ‘golden’ bells, ushering in the marriage of the main character. Described as what they are, wedding bells. This part tells that the person is so overwhelmed with happiness that you can actually see it in your mind's eye. Poe supports this by writing “What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!” (II.12), this brings to mind my wedding day. So blissful that everyone who approached me said how I glowed. At this stage you are setting out on your own, starting your future. It also creates a feeling of self-determination. The human characteristic, “How they ring out their delight!” (II.5) is used to clarify how joyous this part in life is.

Show More
Related

  • Imagery In The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Masque of the Red Death” is a short tale about a king who rules a dominion plagued with a disease called the red death. The Prince decides to build a fortress that will hold many of his closest friends and relatives and keep the disease out. The castle in which the Prince and all of his closest friends are inside of, is a magnificent fortress that is lavish and decorated with a variety of colors for each apartment. Poe explains, “That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue—and vividly blue were its windows.” In this quote, the use of imagery describes the first of seven apartments that hold guests for balls and entertainment. In addition, the last of the seven apartments described is a black room that in itself symbolizes the red death. In this room stands a clock that clangs every hour and when the clock begins to clang. Everything in the fortress seems to stop while the clock clangs. Poe describes the clocks clang very vividly, to set the mood of the seventh room and what it is like. Poe states “Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang.” This example of imagery uses the hearing sense, and it helps the reader understand the mood of the room. Poe wants this room to be creepy, dark, and scary and conveys that clearly through the use of

    Read More

  • Literary Legends: Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe primarily authored stories dealing with Gothic literature; the stories were often quite dreary. Poe possessed a very sorrowful view of the world and he expressed this throughout his literary works. His goal was to leave an impression with every detail that he included in his stories. Although Poe’s stories seem very wretched and lackluster they all convey a certain idea. A trademark of Poe’s is his use of very long complex sentences. For instance, in his work The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe tried to ensure that every detail was as relevant as possible by integrating a wide variety of emotion. In the third paragraph, of page two hundred ninety-seven, Poe wrote, “Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around…” This sentence illustrates the descriptiveness and complexity that Edgar Allan Poe’s works consisted of. The tormented cognizance of Poe led him to use a very gloomy diction throughout his writing. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of symbols and the way he conveyed his writing expr...

    Read More

  • Madman Symbolism

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    The personification in the poem is presented in line 29 where it states “A troop of Echoes whose sweet duty/ Was but to sing” (Poe). Echoes don't necessarily come in “troops,” like an army, but rather in ...

    Read More

  • How Does Edgar Allen Poe Create a Feeling of Madness Throughout "the Tell-Tale Heart"?

    1094 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...’ adds to the unsettling nature to this tale. The groan the old man makes when he sits up in bed on the night of the murder, ‘the groan of mortal terror’ is a noise that suggests that the man is afraid and is on edge. It creates suspense as ‘Terror’ emphasises the fear of the man. When being investigated he shouts and slides the chair over the floor. ‘Raved, swore, and grated the chair across the floor.’ This creates lots of tension because it shows how the narrator is mad and angry through guilt. Poe’s use of onomatopoeia, ‘grated’ emphasised the roughness of the narrator’s actions as he grows even madder at the eye.

    Read More

  • The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poe utilizes a gradual change in diction as the poem progresses. Initially, he begins the poem with melancholic diction when the narrator is falling asleep: “while I pondered, weak and weary,” “nodded, nearly napping,” and “of someone gently rapping” (1-4). The utilization of alliteration in these lines supply a song-like rhythm, which is soothing to the reader. This usage of diction conveys a mellow tone. Further into the poem, when the increasingly agitated narrator becomes vexed at the raven, he lashes out at the bird. Here, he states, “Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore! / Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! / Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door! / Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!” (98-101). Here, his uses archaic words and phrases such as “thee,” “Night’s Plutonian shore,” and “thy soul hath”. This usage of unorthodox language creates a theatrical, dramatic, and climactic effect, which leads to an impassioned tone. By presenting both tones, Poe is able to show the contrast between the two. This transformation from a tone that is mellow to one of frustration and anxiety represents the spiraling downward of the narrator’s mental state.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Alliteration In Owen's 'Gun'

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    He writes, “And bugles calling for them from sad shires” (Line 8). A bugle is a small simple brass instrument without valves, similar to a trumpet. Bugles are used for three main purposes: at a funeral, to mark time, and to call a retreat. The “sad shires” are the towns from which the men come. They are “sad” because many of the men are away, most of them dead. We could interpret this line in three ways. First, the sound represents the mourning of the soldiers in the home towns. Since the sound is rather frequent, it shows the massive amount of death and the herd-like killing of the soldiers as referenced in Line 1. Second, the sound could mark the time of the day, reminding the aimless and purposeless soldiers of how slowly time is moving. This slowing of time contrasts with the fast-paced life of the soldiers before the war and shows how war ages men. Third, the sound from the shires could be a calling of retreat, asking the men to return home. This sense of hope appears only here in the poem – the remaining lines all have a sombre mood emphasizing on death. However, this could also be interpreted as the notification of death at home. This imagery of the bugle varies greatly from its value in previous wars. Before World War I, trumpets were played before battle to generate patriotism and to remind the soldiers to fight for glory. Now, in World War I, it only represents the slowing of time, a retreat, or

    Read More

  • Alone by Edgar Allan Poe

    602 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem that I am analyzing is called “Alone”, written by Edgar Allan Poe. He was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts and passed away on October 7, 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a poet who works of fiction and horror majorly impacted literature. He is also an American author, editor and literary critic. His death remains a mystery, there are different stories about how he died but no one really knows the truth behind his death. This poem “Alone” is a powerful lyrical poem that has portrayed Edgar Allan Poe’s tough and suffering childhood. The poet is the narrator of this poem. He talks about his strange and tough childhood throughout the poem with a dark tone along with wickedness, which makes it obvious that this poem’s theme is not about living a happy and wonderful life.

    Read More

  • A Close Reading of The Raven

    1408 Words  | 3 Pages

    The entire poem including the first stanza, as scanned here, is octametre with mostly trochaic feet and some iams. The use of a longer line enables the poem to be more of a narration of the evening's events. Also, it enables Poe to use internal rhymes as shown in bold. The internal rhyme occurs in the first and third lines of each stanza. As one reads the poem you begin to expect the next rhyme pushing you along. The external rhyme of the "or" sound in Lenore and nevermore at then end of each stanza imitates the haunting nature of the narrator's thoughts. The internal rhyme along with the same external rhyme repeated at the end of each stanza and other literary devices such as alliteration and assonance and give the poem a driving chant-like sound. The musicality of the rhyme also helps one to memorize the poem. This helps keep the poem in your head after you've finished reading it, lingering in your thoughts just as the narrator's thoughts are haunting him. The rhyme also helps to produce a humming beat in the readers mind driving him on steadily..

    Read More

  • War In Brian Turner's 'Phantom Noise'

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    The number of beats and stresses in each line during the poem are scattered, but this serves a purpose by letting ideas flow from one to another. Each idea is connected by using the word “ring” or “ringing.” The overall message of the poem is the constant “ringing” Turner remembers from war experiences affects his everyday life. Turners tone of voice in the beginning of the poem differs from the tone of the voice in end of the poem. In the first couple of lines Turner introduces what the ringing is and why it is constantly in his head. Then towards the end of the poem, Turner uses more vivid language to describe certain images and events he went through to get the constant ringing playing in his mind. For example, in the beginning, words like; “this ringing,” “bullet borne,” and “static,” are used to describe what the ringing represents, and what it can be compared to. Then in the end language like, “muzzle-flash,” and “gravestones,” describe images he remembers from war. The change in the language creates different atmospheres. In the beginning the reader just feels they are reading descriptive language, but the language in the end makes the reader feel they are there in the setting of the poem. This specific structure is important for ideas to flow

    Read More

  • The City In The Sea By Edgar Allan Poe

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    From this quote, it shows how the rest of the poem was going to be dark and dim. At the time Poe had written this poem, he had already faced a lot of tragedy throughout his life. it was easy to see how the poem actually reflected a lot about Poe the troubles he faced in...

    Read More

  • Examples Of Imagery In Annabel Lee

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stanzas one and two of the poem are full of imagery. The first stanza sets the scene for the poem “in a kingdom by the sea” (Poe 609) which makes you feel as if the story is going to have a “romantic” (Overview) feel to it. Then Annabel Lee comes into the story with “no other thought than to love and be loved by me” (Poe 609); This sentence is full of imagery in the sense that it makes you feel the immense capacity of love Annabel Lee had for the speaker if that was her only thought. In the second stanza the imagery takes a turn that shifts from loving and inviting to pain; The love between Annabel and the speaker was so strong that

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    The poem consists of an undeniable narrative structure. Told from the third person, Poe also uses symbolism to create a strong melancholy tone. For instance, both midnight and December symbolize an end of something and the hope of something new to happen. Another example is the chamber in which the narrator is placed, this is used to show the loneliness of the man.

    Read More

  • The Bells

    1119 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Bells,” a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe, conveys a cheerful tone through distinct sounds and repetition of words. A deeply onomatopoeic poem, “The Bells” progresses after every stanza. Primarily, the alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia in the poem produce a happy tone; but, towards the end of the poem, the sound devices help establish a gloomier tone. In each stanza, the bells are made of a different metal substance. In the first stanza, the bells are described as silver. In this case, the bells are pleasant, precious, and strong. Moreover, the bells portray the stages in life. The first stanza explains a man’s happy childhood. The golden bells in the second stanza are an example of a man’s love life through marriage. The brazen bells in the third stanza depict the terror of a human’s life through aging, and the iron bells in the fourth stanza show the mourning and death of a human. To fulfill the sense of excitement and happiness throughout the first stanza, Poe uses repeating words and consonants, long vowels, and imitation of sounds. The alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia all contribute to the joyful and merry tone of “The Bells.”

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Tell Tale Heart, By Edgar Allan Poe

    897 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poe exemplifies terror in ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ by indicating what humanity is capable of doing in order to conquer their fears. This is conveyed through the narrator’s actions and tone when expressing his sanity although confesses to murder by being horrified of an old man’s vulture eye and wanting to permanently shut it. Poe’s vivid and rhetoric language portrayed allows his readers to become aware of what is out there by allowing them to grasp the narrator’s thoughts and mindset. This is revealed through the device of an ecphonesis, as it provides emotional and exclamatory phases to show the narrators persona of having a psychological illness, mood shifts and lack of insight. For example this device is used in the last paragraph of ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ as the use of exclamations allows the readers to understand the feelings and emotions of th...

    Read More

  • Poem Analysis: Fern Hill By Dylan Thomas

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stanza three explains what life was like at the farm he lived on, as the previous stanzas have. Line twenty describes the landscape and how beautiful it is. It describes it as Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air,” (20). Lines twenty one through twenty three use more imagery to describe the landscape. They use words such as “lovely and watery” (21) to show how pleasant it was to gaze upon the land. The word “And” is also repeated in the beginning of each of these lines which creates suspense. They also show repetition by repeating words such as “green” and it brings up the starry night again. Line twenty four talks about owls and how they are starting to come out. The day is starting to end and there is still beauty in everything. Now night has begun and all the things that made the day happy and carefree are starting to disappear. Lines twenty five through twenty seven use imagery to show that the moon is appearing and the horses and everything else is disappearing into the night. This begins to show that the youth the speaker is experiencing is starting to

    Read More

More about Personal Response On Edgar Allen Poe's The Bells

Open Document