The Bells By Edgar Allan Poe

The poem that I chose is The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe. First I would like to start off with a little background on the author. Poe was born in January 19th, 1809 in Boston, MA. His parents, both of whom were actors, died when he was 3. And in 1827 he enlisted in the army but was eventually kicked out because of lack of financial support. After that he moved to Baltimore with his aunt Maria and his cousin Virginia. While living in Baltimore he started selling his stories and because the editor in 1835. Then in 1836 he married his cousin Virginia who was 13/14 at the time. Now onto the poem. In the first line sledges is referring to a sleigh that has silver bells on it. It is a happy time now nothing is going wrong and the world is right. Then there is the word tintinnabulation which means a ringing or tinkling sound. And tinkling is the exact phrase that Poe uses in

Words such as jingling, tinkling, tinkle, ringing, jangling, and wrangling are called onomatopoeia’s. onomatopoeia’s are the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named, like buzz. Poe Is constantly using words like this which grabs the reader’s attention just as much as the repetitiveness of the word bells does. When I first read the second stanza my mind immediately connected the “mellow wedding bells” and “golden bells”.” Through the balmy air of night” alludes to us that it is warm out and that it is night. These lines provide a calming quality but also make us think about the sounds and the rhythm of that the poem has. All the while Poe is building a mood. The molten golden notes make me think of something hot like lava, and how the sweet sounds just pour off of the bells. The color of the bells is also deeply symbolic because wedding bands are often gold. “And all in tune” means that the notes are beautiful to the ear because they are being