“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.” Edgar Allen Poe’s alliteration and repetition of words support the poem’s flow and musicality. Poe begins with the alliteration of the m sound in “merriment” and “melody” (3). The soft m sound, also known as a liquid consonant, helps to keep a quick and continuous pace for the poem. Similarly, the alliteration of the s sounds in sledges, silver, stars, and seem, emphasize the calming sounds of the bells (1-2, 6-7). The s sound helps express the soothing and comforting effects of the bells, essentially contributing to the merry tone of the poem. Furthermore, the alliteration of t... ... middle of paper ... ...em. Through the use of alliterations, assonances, and onomatopoeias, “The Bells” expresses a cheerful tone. As the poem progresses, the sounds change to suggest a progression of life. In stanza one, or the beginning of life, Poe’s alliterate words help the poem flow. Sequentially, the flow of the poem helps illustrate the delightfulness of the silver bells and their tinkling. Poe also includes the long i assonance to show the bells joyful ringing. The short e sound also contributes to the merry and delightful tone because it justifies the merry melody that the bells create. In conclusion, the onomatopoeia supports the musicality of the poem. Poe uses words such as tinkle jingling, and tintinnabulation to mimic the chiming of the bells. Ultimately, Edgar Allen Poe conveys a happy tone in “The Bells” through the use of alliterations, assonances, and onomatopoeias.
Poe also uses figurative language. Poe word choice just adds to the feeling of how composed and how well put together his writing is. Poe like to pull good objectives and good word choices , to put into detail, “ Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance, to hearken to the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused revery or meditation’ (5). In this quote Poe loves using lots of descriptive words, even if the sentence is short , to describe the pendulum swing for example, one adjective is not enough, Poe uses three, “dull, heavy and monotonous
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...
Even though Edgar Poe is most often remembered for his short stories, he considered himself first and foremost a poet, and many of his poems have directly influenced American culture in many ways than he thought. “He claims that “The Raven,” his most enduring and well-known poem, is as complex as a math problem and analyzes how a poem’s meter, length, rhyme and subject matter all contribute to its effect. His terror-fueled tales can be credited with influencing everyone from H.P. Lovecraft to Stephen King, not to mention the host of horror movies that sprung from the genre” (Brozak). Moreover, “Annabel Lee,” the last poem Poe wrote, has been translated into songs performed by both Joan Baez and Stevie Nicks, and lines from his poems -- especially
Thomson, Gary Richard, and Poe Edgar. The selected writings of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Norton & Company, 2004
The first set of bells that we come across in this piece are the silver bells. These bells represent the first stage of human life: youth. Firstly, the color silver is pure and shiny. This is the way humans come into the world: pure, without harshness. Silver bells are associated with the winter season, which, to some, appears beautiful and untouched, just like a child. The words "merriment" and "jingling",along with the line "In the icy air of night", seem to infer that these bells are being rung around the holiday season. The ringing of these bells brings to mind a child-like anticipation of what the season will bring. The words in this first stanza are light-hearted, giving it a jubilant feel. It is also interesting to note that the first stanza has fourteen lines, making it the shortest stanza in the poem. This goes back to the idea of youth.
Magistrale, Tony. "The Art of Poetry." Student Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Westport, Conn. ;London: Greenwood, 2001. 39-41. Print.
Just like his life, Poe’s works are covered in mystery. His works are covered in a Gothic theme. Most of Poe’s poems follow the same central idea: a young man who has lost the love of his life. The poems in the collection I have chosen are similar in many ways.
Death can both be a painful and serious topic, but in the hands of the right poet it can be so natural and eloquently put together. This is the case in The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe, as tackles the topic of death in an uncanny way. This poem is important, because it may be about the poet’s feelings towards his mother’s death, as well as a person who is coming to terms with a loved ones passing. In the poem, Poe presents a speaker who uses various literary devices such as couplet, end-stopped line, alliteration, image, consonance, and apostrophe to dramatize coming to terms with the death of a loved one.
In "The House of Poe", Richard Wilbur elucidates his criticisms of Poe 's work. He firstly comments on a critic 's purpose, then how Poe 's stories are all allegories. He then addresses the possible opposition to his argument, and then begins his discussion of the common themes in Poe 's writing and provides examples from his stories. This dissertation will analyze Wilbur 's criticism by cross referencing Poe 's work and how it exemplifies Wilbur 's assessment. There is a great deal of evidence to support Wilbur 's theories, but a close examination of each one will determine how legitimate his argument really is.
Edgar Allan Poe was able to clearly illustrate the theme, the speaker, and the setting of the poem through the use of repetition and imagery. It is unmistakable that the theme of the poem was love. Poe used an extensive amount of repetition of the word “love” throughout the poem, to convey that love is the main theme of his poem. He also used the phrase “in a kingdom by the sea” many times in order to reveal that the setting of the poem was in a kingdom by the sea. Repetition and imagery also gave clues as to who was narrating the poem. The excessive use of the word “I” and “my” indicated that Edgar Allan Poe was the
The tone and emotion of the poem changes as the speaker goes on. The first stanza of the poem convey...
Claudel, Alice M. “Mystic Symbols in Poe's ‘The City in the Sea.'” Papers on Poe: Essays in Honor of John Ward Ostrom. Ed. Richard P. Veler and Richard Beale Davis. Springfield, OH: Chantry Music Press at Wittenburg U, 1972. 54-61.
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
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...
Poe’s most famous poem begins with an imagery that immediately brings the reader into a dark, cold, and stormy night. Poe does not wish for his readers to stand on the sidelines and watch the goings on, but actually be in the library with the narrator, hearing what he hears and seeing what he sees. Using words and phrases such as “midnight dreary” and “bleak December” Poe sets the mood and tone, by wanting his readers to feel the cold night and to reach for the heat of the “dying embers” of the fireplace. You do not come into this poem thinking daffodils and sunshine, but howling winds and shadows. By using these words, Poe gives you the sense of being isolated and alone. He also contrasts this isolation, symbolized by the storm and the dark chamber, with the richness of the objects in the library. The furnished room also reminds him of the beauty of his lost Lenore. Also, Poe uses a rhythm in his beginning stanza, using “tapping”, followed by “rapping, rapping at my door”, and ending with “tapping at my chamber door.” You can almost hear the tapping on the door of the library as ...