Edgar Allan Poe and Evocation of Anchors in Poetry
The Bells
by Edgar Allan Poe
[01:56] <@MadQueen> <.<
[01:56] <@MadQueen> >.>
[01:56] <@MadQueen> HEAR the sledges with the bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Silver bells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> What a world of merriment their melody foretells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In the icy air of night !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> While the stars that oversprinkle
[01:56] <@MadQueen> All the heavens, seem to twinkle
[01:56] <@MadQueen> With a crystalline delight ;
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Keeping time, time, time,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In a sort of Runic rhyme,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
[01:56] <@MadQueen> From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Bells, bells, bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Hear the mellow wedding bells
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Golden bells!
[01:56] <@MadQueen> What a world of happiness their harmony foretells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Through the balmy air of night
[01:56] <@MadQueen> How they ring out their delight !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> From the molten-golden notes,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And all in tune,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> What a liquid ditty floats
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
[01:56] <@MadQueen> On the moon !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Oh, from out the sounding cells,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> What a gush of euphony voluminously wells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> How it swells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> How it dwells
[01:56] <@MadQueen> On the Future ! how it tells
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of the rapture that impels
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the swinging and the ringing
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of the bells, bells, bells,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Bells, bells, bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Hear the loud alarum bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Brazen bells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> What tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In the startled ear of night
[01:56] <@MadQueen> How they scream out their affright !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Too much horrified to speak,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> They can only shriek, shriek,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Out of tune,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Leaping higher, higher, higher,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> With a desperate desire,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And a resolute endeavor
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Now — now to sit or never,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> By the side of the pale-faced moon.
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Oh, the bells, bells, bells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> What a tale their terror tells
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of Despair !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> How they clang, and clash, and roar !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> What a horror they outpour
[01:56] <@MadQueen> On the bosom of the palpitating air !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Yet the ear, it fully knows,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> By the twanging,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And the clanging,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> How the danger ebbs and flows ;
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Yet, the ear distinctly tells,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In the jangling,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And the wrangling,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> How the danger sinks and swells,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of the bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Bells, bells, bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In the clamour and the clangour of the bells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Hear the tolling of the bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Iron bells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> What a world of solemn thought their monody compels !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In the silence of the night,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> How we shiver with affright
[01:56] <@MadQueen> At the melancholy meaning of their tone !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> For every sound that floats
[01:56] <@MadQueen> From the rust within their throats
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Is a groan.
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And the people — ah, the people –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> They that dwell up in the steeple,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> All alone,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In that muffled monotone,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Feel a glory in so rolling
[01:56] <@MadQueen> On the human heart a stone –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> They are neither man nor woman –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> They are neither brute nor human –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> They are Ghouls: –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And their king it is who tolls ;
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Rolls
[01:56] <@MadQueen> A pæan from the bells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And his merry bosom swells
[01:56] <@MadQueen> With the pæan of the bells !
[01:56] <@MadQueen> And he dances, and he yells ;
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Keeping time, time, time,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In a sort of Runic rhyme,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the pæan of the bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of the bells :
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Keeping time, time, time,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In a sort of Runic rhyme,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the throbbing of the bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of the bells, bells, bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the sobbing of the bells ;
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Keeping time, time, time,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> As he knells, knells, knells,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> In a happy Runic rhyme,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the rolling of the bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of the bells, bells, bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the tolling of the bells,
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Of the bells, bells, bells, bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> Bells, bells, bells –
[01:56] <@MadQueen> To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
This poem is one of my absolute favorite examples of beautifully executed iambic pentameter. It evokes emotions with not only with the descriptions but also with the overall sounds of the vowels, and words used to make those descriptions. They have been programmed in layers since birth from everyday life and interaction with society. The poet sees the layers and will utilize as many as possible concurrently.
These are the tools a poet needs to perform an anchor evocation.
- The “feel” of words.
- Their definitions.
- The theatrical presentation and conveyance of the message.
These things all help to illicit responses responses in the reader predicted by probability and anchored by previously experienced emotions. Using sound is a subtle way of affecting the reader and getting the subconscious reaction the author intends. When this is used in tune with the words chosen it’s a powerful evocative of a magical act; combining conscious and subconscious layers of effect and consensual culturally ingrained symbolism.
An example in The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe is the sprialing change of tone and feeling from”light and merry” to ”dark and terrifying” at the end. The use of wording such as “the tintinnabulation that so musically wells” is a stark contrast to “what a world of solemn thought their monody compels”.
This is direct conscious manipulation of basic minor emotional anchors.
To add to the power of of its delivery the indentations and offset of the above text was done purposely in an attempt to match the way Poe originally wrote it. There is debate among scholars as to what, if any, importance this may have. However most will agree that the undulations of words create a unique form and face to the poem.
Forms, shapes, patterns and outlines can all illicit an almost intuitive response by a programmed reaction. It seems the shape of the poem is to assist with the overall “falling” theme synthesized on multiple levels and layers within the piece.
Fare thee well wordslingers. And we are well met
