Chapter 1 THE BELLS EDGAR ALLAN POE I Hear the sledges with the bells - What a world of merriment their melody foretells! In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. II Hear the mellow wedding bells Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle dove that listens while she gloats On the moon! O from out the sounding cells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it dwells On the Future! How it tells Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells — To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells. III Hear the loud alarum bells Brazen bells! What a tale of terror now their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, |