Reflection Blog: The Bells-Edgar Allan Poe

I started out by analyzing the Edgar Allan Poe poem called "The Bells." The first stanza of the poems starts out by going into great detail about the bells. The first line states to listen to the sleigh with the silver bells because their melody brings a sense of joy. They shine in the cold air of the night while all the stars are shining too, which makes the heavens look like they twinkle. The bells keep perfect time that makes pretty music, which comes from the silver bells. The second stanza changes color from silver to gold bells and talks about weddings. It talks about how the bells send out a sweet harmony bringing happiness throughout the night, while people are dancing and the turtle dove listens with satisfaction as the golden bells ring. The third stanza talks about brazen alarm bells. The alarm bells give more a sense of terror. They shriek out of tune and send a horror sound. It also mentions how our ears can tell the danger from sound of the bells. The fourth stanza talks about the laborious sound of the iron bells. The iron bells sing a dark and gloomy song. The iron bells make people shiver in fright because of the muffled monotone. The king, though, makes a joyous noise from the bells. He dances with the rhythm of the bells. So basically, what I took from the poem is that Edgar Allan Poe is describing different kinds of bells, which gives people different moods. Our ears are able to tell the difference from these bells, so we know what each one represents. Dark romanticism characteristics are present in this story. One we start getting into the brazen and iron bell characteristics, the mood changes to dark and horrifying. The sense of horror and darkness are major themes in the dark romanticism time period. Also, the word somber was brought up when he started talking about the iron bells and the brazen bells. Having a more serious and somber tone is also a characteristic of the dark romanticism time period. I think the poem also has a suspenseful kind of mood. It starts out very happy, describing the bells that are pretty in appearance and also make beautiful music. As the poem progresses, or builds up though, the poem starts exploring the bells that are not so nice on the ears, making a shrieking noise that is out of tune. Another characteristic of dark romanticism is when pain is present. Pain is present when the poem talks about "how we shiver with affright" (Stanza IV) at the sound of the bells. The poem also represents aesthetics, which is another characteristic of dark romanticism. Overall though, I think the poem is a good example of the dark romanticism writing style. Edgar Allan's poems have a nice flow and are easy to understand, so the meaning of the poem and characteristics are really clear to me and the dark romanticism characteristics stand out more.


Poe, Edgar A. "The Bells." The Literature Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries. The Literature Network. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://www.online-literature.com/poe/575/>.