How Does Edgar Allan Poe Use Personification In The Bells

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“The Bells” is a short poem, written by author Edgar Allan Poe. In “The Bells”, Poe talks about the different stages of life. He has always had a unique writing style, due to a terrible series of events that occurred in his life. This poem is just one of his many terror tales, showcasing his thoughts on the cycle of life. The author uses personification and imagery to conjure a dark tone in his writing.
He uses personification by giving the bells emotions to show the feeling in each stanza. For example, in stanza 2 he says the golden bells are “rhyming and chiming”, which creates a delightful feeling of happiness. The use of this literary device shows how this particular stage of life is full of no worries and nothing but joy. The reason for this is because he is talking about the stage of life that includes marriage, and the “golden bells” have a positive emotion to go along with it. In addition, he gives an eerie feeling by saying “the moaning and the …show more content…

For example, in the first stanza he describes an innocent environment with jolly surroundings by using words such as: “sledges”, “over sprinkle”, and “Twinkle” to let the reader envision the setting. The usage of these words helps to create an image of Christmas time, along with merriment and joy. The reason being is that he wants the audience to picture a joyous atmosphere with good things happening all around. In addition, in stanza 3 he describes brazen bells and uses vocabulary including words such as: “terror”, “expostulation”, and “palpitating” to give the reader an idea of the surroundings and what may happen next. This shows that the environment is dangerous and caution is now necessary. This is because he wants the reader to know that something terrible is nearing, the joy is now over. Edgar Allan Poe uses these two literary devices very effectively, to show the dark mood in his