Edgar Allen Poe

Poetic Commentary

This poem, "The Bells" by Edgar Allen Poe describes a common object in the everyday life, but brings out the meaning behind the symbol of a bell. Poe reveals the different dispositions of the bells including the silver bells, golden bells, brazen bells, and iron bells. The plot in this poem is not straightforward in the four stanzas written but rather inducing the sentiment of each bell through lines of imagery and musical devices. Poe writes that the silver bells show a "world of merriment" with their small "tinkle." The golden bells are "the mellow wedding bells" and that "their harmony foretells...a world of happiness." Poe shows that the brazen bells signal "a tale of terror" and "scream out their affright." The iron bells have a "melancholy menace [in] their tone." In all of these stanzas, Poe incorporates musical and...