In the poem “The Bells” (Poe, Edgar A, (1809-1849). “The Bells”. In Johnson, Greg. Arp, Thomas R., (2015), Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound & Sense, 12th edition, Standford, Cengage Learning.) the storyline of life is told through a object rather than a person. First two sets of bells speak of a bright future , the last two speak only of the terrible present, the only happy person is the king of the ghouls, who dances, while he delights in death and in the sorrow projected by the bells. Each one of the bells are made out of different metal, which is important when tieing the poem together.
The seemingly disparate elements of the “The Bells” comes together as a simple succession of emotional states that descend into darkness. The poem can be used as an allegory for the progression of Human Existence. The Speaker's Suggestions about humanity are not sanguine and the stanzas emphasize the dark nature of the message by lengthening as they approach death. The Speaker is kind of …show more content…
The bells are made of grim, heavy iron. Iron emphasizes how heavy, cold and lifeless the world becomes and is showcased in the stanza. These are the last bells that call when someone has died, far from the happy jingling Silver Bells. The speaker included “What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!” The word “monody” is like a single melody but also the sounds of a funeral song. This gives readers idea of the quick sense of death, how a fast a rhythm or song is over, as fast as life. One thing that the speaker used was personification, even though it was throughout poem, it stuck out more in “Iron Bells”. “For every sound that floats. From the rust within their throats Is a groan” This section makes readers imagine a bell ,with a throat, groaning aloud. But this could represent a raspy, croaking sound of a rusty human voice, that is at a funeral of a person he shared a life