Literature and poetry: forms and analysis

¶ … Bells' by Edgar Allen Poe. The poem revolves around different phases of human life and connects them to chiming of bells. 'The Bells' is considered a near-perfect example of a poetic device called onomatopoeia.

THE BELLS

The Bells' on first reading would appear to be a happy song, which talks about various stages of man's life and the significance of different sounds. But in-depth analysis reveals that this poem is actually more autobiographical in nature and though it does mention the four stages that man goes through, it is by no means a happy song. This brings us to the central idea of the poem. The poem chronicles four stages of man's life with first being the happiest yet shortest and last two being saddest yet longer. Man's childhood is the sunniest time of his life but it lasts for a brief period whereas maturity and near-death moments are saddest and highly undesirable yet they appear to last a very long time. It is important to understand here that keeping in view these thoughts, Poe deliberately gave his first two stanzas fewer lines than the last two. He did not specifically complain about the shortness of childhood or youth, yet he wants to convey this idea through the number of lines that these stanzas contain. The sudden leap from short to long stanzas surprises the readers and make them think about the obvious and deliberately created difference.

It is critical to bear in mind that there are no specific messages being given to readers through these lines. The poet is more concerned about the why he felt about the different phases of life and thus seeks to present his views on the subject with little or no hidden meanings. The poet has made intelligent use of various poetic devices including onomatopoeia and forceful repetition. This poem has often been referred to as the most perfect example of experimental onomatopoeia. This device seeks to highlight meaning of a certain term through its sound. For example the word tintinnabulation automatically makes one thing about jubilation and merriment.

The poem also gives different meanings to the chiming of bells according to the stage in which they appear. In the first stage, which is the happiest period of man's life, certain degree of innocence and spontaneity is connected with ringing of bells. What a world of merriment their melody foretells! In the second stage, bells indicate a rather rapturous time because of love that man has just found. What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! In the third stage, which is that of maturity, fear is evident from the sounds of bells (What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!) while in the last stage, chiming highlights coldness of death (What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!)