poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

He must have been very angry at humantiy when he wrote this...he probably wrote it with the knowledge that someday poor schoolchildren would be forced to read and studay this poem. How sadistic.

Sorry...I misspelled study in that first comment. I just couldnt have you think that I was that stupid.

My intuition tells me, that there must have been a church or something near Poe´s house.
Maybe it even annoyed him.
But many poets say that a poem is already written somehow, the only thing missing are the words.
I think this is true in this case.
The melody was there (you can hear the bells without any problem) and the meaning, too:
if it was a church that gave him the idea, then the poem has to do with religious things. But it does´t have to:
their sound symbolizes time and everything related to human life, e.g. wedding (bells), death (funeral), fire (alarm) etc.

I think the poem is a symphony of human fate.

My word, word, word, what a pathetic poetaster Edgar Allan was--but a sublime storyteller.

Edgar Allan Poe was referred to as 'the jingle man' by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It seems possible that Poe wrote this poem aimed at spiting Emerson. Poe's 'The Poetic Principle' entails his philosophy of poetry which is the opposite of Emerson's philosophy. 'The Bells' is a prime example of Poe's philosophy which is simply 'The rhythmical creation of beauty'. Poe aimed to please and entertain, not teach. Surprisingly, he made no fortune trying to please people despite the entertaining quality of both his poetry and stories.

Heres another light in which one may look at this poem, and i hope it is an enlightening light for you =P. There are 4 stanzas each longer then the other in ORDER (note that). Id also ask you to look at the second and last lines of each stanza. The metals of which the bells are made (silver, gold, brazen, iron). and the sound that the bells make (jingling and tinkling, rhyming and chiming, clamoring and clanging, moaning and groaning).

I suppose with that down and assuming that you have read the poem im gonna go ahead and tell ya what i think all this bell sounding is about.

The first stanza is about childhood, its short (the size of the stanza) and its sweet, sort of merry. Then we come to the wedding bells, the second stanza is about love and marriage and that lasts longer and its wonderful. The third stanza is about a tragedy, which could be anythign FROM death of a loved one to anything else, notice how its a bit longer, poe is showing that pain is often longer then happiness. and the last stanza is the death of the author.

now i had someone goes as far as to tell me that 'The Bells' by Edgar Allan Poe is an autobiography, which can be eaily understood and excepted. Poe's childhood was short yet as any childhood merry. The he came to the best part of his life (golden bells) when he marries his wife which he loved dearly this last a little longer, till she dies. I'd assume that her death happens in stanza 3. And then in stanza 4 is him going mad and eventually dieing.

I hope this has helped you. If you have a question you think i might be able to answer lord_taran@yahoo.com give me a buz.

ok.. see, FROM my point of view.. its like this : furst stanza represents the meeting of a guy and a girl , then they get married in the second stanza.. and in the third stanza , poe metions the "alarm bells" which is like war, the final stanza is when the guy dies in war.

so.. which do u think is more correct ?

I think this poem is about the stages of life and despite what happens, all our lives will end (with death- iron bells).

I think the bells isnt just a tale of his life, but a tale of all life, and all it entails.

First part is about birth,
second is about life,
third is about pain,
and fourth is about death.

Its a tale of what everyone will go through at one time or another. And how when everything is over theres a tomb stone with your name on it.