Aim: How does Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Bells” convey and reinforce the meaning of the life cycle through his choice of poetic sound devices?
Do Now: Team Challenge/Timed Activity
Our Do Now was a timed team challenge where, in our groups, we had 2 minutes to come up with a list of as many bell types as possible. In breakout rooms, we typed our answers out as they were being said. The team who came up with the greatest number of bells won 25 points for their team.
The winning team, Team 4, came up with 10 bell types: the church bell, jingle bell, hand bell, bike bell, school bell, chimes, doorbell, alarm clock bell, cowbell, and call bell. My group came up with 8 bell types and had similar responses, such as the doorbell, alarm bell, cowbell, etc.
Spirit-Reading: “Oh Woe is Poe!”
As a class, we took turns spirit-reading the excerpt “Oh Woe is Poe!” from the book How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg, which talks about the lives of famous people and how they died. “Oh Woe is Poe!” discusses the somber life of Edgar Allan Poe, whose poem we will be analyzing today.
Link to Excerpt: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cPfYjmoyLzpq9gsuLNNGZNwB6El9U8IN/view
Key Takeaways from the Reading (with pictures):
Edgar Allan Poe was a writer born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. He died in Baltimore, Maryland on October 7, 1849.
His life wasn’t really the best, as many of his loved ones died from tuberculosis, a disease that killed 1 in 7 people during the 1800s. It killed more people than war.
Although Poe became a famous writer with his poem “The Raven”, he was poor and there were no copyright laws to protect his work. This resulted in him resorting to alcohol and becoming an alcoholic.
He might’ve been involved with voter fraud because he kept talking about someone named Reynolds before he died from possible alcohol poisoning.
Back then, those who voted multiple times in different disguises at various polling places for the same candidate were awarded with free alcohol. (This is illegal.)
Also, Reynolds was the name of a polling official.
His death might’ve also been caused by rabies, which would explain his erratic behavior at the time of his death. However, this is just a possibility and isn’t certain.
Poe is known for the first detective story written, titled “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” written in 1841.
By reading this passage, we were able to understand why Poe’s writing is often dark and melancholy. His pieces reflect his depressing life experiences, from the deaths of his loved ones to his alcoholism, as he used these experiences as inspiration.
Poetic Sound Devices/Spirit-Reading/Teamwork
As a class, we spirit-read the slides on musical/sound devices and some examples of them.
Musical or sound devices convey and reinforce meaning (or experience) through the use of sound. They basically help the reader “hear” the poem.
Some musical/sound devices include...
Cacophony & Euphony
We’ve already discussed these two in our Poetic Elements & Identity lesson, but to review:
Cacophony: involving or producing a mixture of harsh, unpleasant sounds. (p, b, t, d, g, k, ch-, sh- etc.)
It is used to convey negative ideas.
Euphony: the opposite of cacophony; involving sounds that are soothing or pleasant to the ear.(consonants such as l, m, n, r, and softer f and v, soft consonants or semi-vowels such as w, s, y, and th- or wh-.)
It is used to make words sound melodic and helps convey positive ideas.
For more in-detail explanations of the two, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53zWcf9zJVU
After reading the Cacophony slide, we split up into groups and were given a minute to highlight the following examples for cacophonous words:
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!” (“The Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll)
“I gave him a description of cannons, culverins, muskets, carabines, pistols, bullets, powder, swords, bayonets, battles, sieges, retreats, attacks, undermines, countermines, bombardments…” (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)
My group’s responses:
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!” (“The Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll)
“I gave him a description of cannons, culverins, muskets, carabines, pistols, bullets, powder, swords, bayonets, battles, sieges, retreats, attacks, undermines, countermines, bombardments…” (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)
“The”, “that”, and “my” in Example 1, and “I”, “him”, and “of” in Example 2 were not highlighted because they feature the harmonious consonants “th-”, “m”, and “f”.
After reading the Euphony slide, we split up into groups again and were given another minute to highlight the following examples for euphonious words:
“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” (“Ode to Autumn” by John Keats)
“While the stars that oversprinkle/All the heavens seem to twinkle” (“The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe)
My group’s responses:
“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” (“Ode to Autumn” by John Keats)
“While the stars that oversprinkle/All the heavens seem to twinkle” (“The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe)
“And” in Example 1 and “to” in Example 2 were not highlighted because they feature the explosive consonants “d” and “t”.
Musical/Sound Devices Examples Continued:
Alliteration: when a series of words or words that are close together all begin with the same first letter (usually a consonant) or sound.
Ex: Sally sold seashells by the seashore.
The example features words that consecutively start with a “s” sound.
More on Alliteration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brQfY8VtmyA
Onomatopoeia: A word which imitates the natural sound of something.
Ex: “Buzz”, “Vroom”, “Whoosh”, etc
These are all words that imitate the natural sound of a bee, car, and wind blowing.
More on Onomatopoeia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ST_SEOPcrk
Repetition: Repeating words, phrases, lines, or stanzas to emphasize a feeling or idea, create rhythm, and/or develop a sense of urgency
Ex: “To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells-
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!”
(“The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe)
“Bells” is constantly repeated throughout the stanza to emphasize the repeating ringing of bells.
More on repetition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x346uZiXZKc
Rhyme: a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words (typically at the ends of words) to create a sense of rhythm and order.
There are two types of rhyme:
Perfect rhyme: when stressed syllables of the words, along with all subsequent syllables, share identical sounds
Ex: “pencil" and "stencil”
Imperfect rhyme (slant rhyme): involves the repetition of similar sounds that are not quite as precise as perfect rhyme
Ex: “uptown” and “frown”
More on Perfect and Imperfect Rhyme: https://kristenandbobbygilles.wordpress.com/tag/imperfect-rhyme/
“The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe
After going over common examples of poetic sound devices, Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Bells”, was read to us so that we could pick up on subtle details and get the full effect of the previously mentioned sound devices.
Link to recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m75-812-sj4
The Bells
I.
Hear the sledges with the bells—
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells—
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
II.
Hear the mellow wedding bells,
Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight!
From the molten-golden notes,
And all in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Oh, from out the sounding cells,
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
How it swells!
How it dwells
On the Future! how it tells
Of the rapture that impels
To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells-
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!
III.
Hear the loud alarum bells—
Brazen bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek,
Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Leaping higher, higher, higher,
With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor,
Now- now to sit or never,
By the side of the pale-faced moon.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows:
Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling,
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells-
Of the bells-
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells-
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!
IV.
Hear the tolling of the bells—
Iron Bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy menace of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people- ah, the people-
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All Alone
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone—
They are neither man nor woman-
They are neither brute nor human-
They are Ghouls:
And their king it is who tolls;
And he rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A pæan from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the paean of the bells—
Of the bells:
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells—
Of the bells, bells, bells—
To the sobbing of the bells;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells—
Of the bells, bells, bells:
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells—
Bells, bells, bells—
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
Teamwork - Analysis of the Poem
From the recording that we had listened to earlier, it was obvious that each stanza sounded different and gave off various moods. In groups, we filled out the following chart to record these differences.
In the far left column, we recorded the bell types mentioned in each stanza, as well as their denotations and connotations. In the middle column, we identified the sound/literary devices used in each stanza and included examples from the poem. In the far right column, we analyzed the effect the sound devices had on the mood of each stanza.
Here’s an example based on how my group filled it out:
Column 1: The silver bells were identified as Christmas decoration bells. They had a positive connotation and association because they are related to the holidays, a time of gifting and bonding.
Column 2: Some examples of the sound/literary devices that we all pointed out in the stanza are listed, and an example from the respective stanza was included to show where the devices were used.
Column 3: We analyzed the stanza and Ryan said that the use of the sound device euphony expresses a happy mood, such as in words like “twinkle” and “oversprinkle.”
Finally, we finished off the lesson with 4 discussion questions to answer in groups:
Analyze the first two stanzas. How do they compare, in terms of similarity?
The first two stanzas compare in terms of similarity because both are expressing happiness and peacefulness. (Kevin) In both stanzas, euphony is used to contribute to this positive mood through words like “melody” and “molten golden,” which have soft consonants. Positive connotation can be seen in both based on how the bells were associated with the heavens and “a world of happiness.”
Now, compare the bells in stanzas 1 and 2 with the bells in stanzas 3 and 4. How does Poe’s mood shift in his poem?
Poe’s mood shifted in this poem because stanzas 3 and 4 have a darker horror theme compared to the lighthearted tone in stanzas 1 and 2. In stanzas 3-4, Poe seems to be tormented by the sound of the bells, describing the ringing as painful, out-of-tune shrieks. This greatly contrasts with stanzas 1-2 because he enjoys the ringing of the bells earlier in the poem, describing their sounds as tinkles. (Serena)
How does Poe use sound devices to imitate the sound of bells?
Compile a list of the devices you believe he used.
Poe uses sound devices to imitate the sound of bells using onomatopoeia, personification, and diction. For example, in stanza 3, words like “clash”, “jangling”, and “roar” were used, to name a few. They helped emphasize the loudness of the alarm bells and how unpleasant they were because these words have negative connotations. The word “roar” also reminds you of a lion and the deafening sound it would make, which is an example of personification.
This poem is as much about sound as it is about meaning.
Why do you think Poe places a heavy emphasis on sound in this poem?
What message does it help to express?
How is this poem symbolically a metaphor for life?
I think Poe places a heavy emphasis on sound in this poem because each bell sounds different and gives off its own tone that can be associated with different feelings and emotions. For example, loud, annoying alarm bells do not sound as pleasant as Christmas jingle bells, which sound gentle. The message it helps express is that life and childhood start off happy, however this happiness doesn’t last long, as we can tell by the short stanzas at the beginning of the poem. Additionally, this poem is symbolically a metaphor for life because, as you age, life becomes more difficult and sad as we can see from the diction in stanzas 3 and 4, and how long these stanzas are. (Ryan)
Reflection
Throughout this lesson, I was surprised to find that I learned a lot, one takeaway being the importance of doing further research into an author’s life for more context into their writing. Just like how you would often read into a visual artist’s life to understand their painting or piece, (for example, Picasso’s Blue Period art) learning more about an author’s background helps us understand the “why?” behind their pieces. Most people are aware that Edgar Allan Poe didn’t have the best life. After all, for most of his life, he was alone, considering that his family separated when he was very young, and most of loved ones had passed away from tuberculosis. Based on this knowledge, we can infer that this is the reason as to why Poe writes such gloomy tales, such as “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.”
Another thing I learned is that poetic sound devices are essential to poems. Well, to be honest, I already knew they were just as important as literary devices, as they help readers visualize what they are reading and develop a mood or tone that elicits an emotional response from them. However, when these poetic sound devices are read aloud, like repetition or onomatopoeia, it’s a completely different experience from reading it inside your head. When you listen to a poem, especially one that’s jam-packed with poetic devices, like “The Bells”, you understand it on a whole other level. You get to hear how the author intended it to sound, and feel the rhythm physically. As I listened to Tom O’Bedlam read “The Bells”, I noticed a change in pace from stanzas 1 to 3. He started reading stanza 3 in a bit of a quicker pace to further emphasize the sense of urgency in alarm bells. If I had read this piece to myself, I wouldn’t have done the same, and it would probably come out in a very monotonous manner.
Lastly, I realized you should never overdo repetition in your poems- at least not without a good purpose. While I listened to the recording of “The Bells”, I was slightly irritated that the phrase “the bells” was being repeated over and over again. It’s even the title of the poem! However, it was probably done on purpose here, as it was written to emphasize how annoying alarm bells are and/or the repeated ringing and tolling of the bells.
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