Hear the tolling of the bells | Hear the tolling of the bells

Hear the tolling of the bells

Language: English

Hear the tolling of the bells --
Iron Bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy menace of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people -- ah, the people --
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All Alone
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone --
They are neither man nor woman --
They are neither brute nor human --
They are Ghouls:
And their king it is who tolls;
And he rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A paean from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the paean of the bells --
Of the bells:
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells --
Of the bells, bells, bells --
To the sobbing of the bells;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells --
Of the bells, bells, bells:
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells --
Bells, bells, bells --
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• J. Hall

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Text Authorship:

by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849), no title, appears in The Bells, no. 4 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "Hear the tolling of the bells", published 1909 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]

This text (or a part of it) is used in a work

by Thomas Anderton (1836 - 1903), "The Sleighbells", published 187-? [ vocal trio of treble voices and piano ]
by Frank Ahrold (b. 1931), "The Bells", published 1967 [ SATB chorus ]
by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "The Bells", published 1961 [ satb chorus and piano four-hands ]
by John Emeléus , "The Bells", published 1962 [ unison chorus ]
by Arthur Foote (1853 - 1937), "The Bells", published 1929 [ satb chorus and piano ]
by George Fox (1854 - 1902), "The Bells", published 1876 [ satb chorus and orchestra ], cantata
by William Wallace Gilchrist (1846 - 1916), "The Bells", published 1913 [ SSAA chorus and piano ]
by John Habash , "The Bells", published 1963 [ SATB chorus ], note: words adapted by Edna Lewis
by Cuthbert Harris (1870 - 1932), "Silver Sleigh Bells", published 1922 [ SSA trio or SATB chorus ]
by H. Stanley Hawley (1867 - 1916), "The Bells", published 1894 [ reciter with piano ]
by Joseph (or Josef) Charles Holbrooke (1878 - 1958), "The Bells", op. 50a, published 1906 [ chorus and orchestra ], note: also set in a German translation by Alice Klengel
by Fedor Kebalin , "The Bells", published 1966, from Canticle of Seasons
by Hazel Gertrude Kinscella (1893 - 1960), "The Bells", published 1938 [ SSA chorus and piano ]
by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815 - 1868), "The Bells"
by Henry Lahee (1826 - 1912), "The Bells", op. 128 no. 1, published 1937 [ SSA chorus and piano ], note: arranged by Purcell J. Mansfield
by F. Lancelott , "The Bells", published 1957, cantata
by Franco Leoni (1864 - 1949), "The Bells", published 1908 [ vocal scene for baritone or contralto and orchestra ]
by Clarence Lucas (1866 - 1947), "The Bells", op. 56, published 1913 [ madrigal: satb chorus a cappella ]
by Nicola Aloysius Montani (1880 - 1948), "The Bells", published 1917 [ soprano, alto, SSA chorus, and piano or orchestra ], cantata
by Phil Ochs (1940 - 1976), "The Bells", published 1967 [ satb chorus and piano ], arranged by Herbert Haufrecht
by C. Alexander Peloquin , "The Bells", published 1964 [ mixed chorus, 2 pianos, 2 contrabasses, percussion ]
by Franz Petersilea (d. 1878), "The Bells"
by Alfred Plumpton , "The Bells", published 1867
by Sam Raphling (b. 1910), "The Bells", published 1958 [ 6-part mixed chorus a cappella ]
by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "The Sledge Bells", published 1909 [ partsong: satb chorus a cappella ]
by Godfrey Sampson (flourished 1930), "The Bells", published 1946
by Arsene Siegel (b. 1897), "The Iron Bells", published 1945 [ medium voice and piano ]
by David E. Stone (b. 1922), "Winter (The Bells)", published 1980 [ SSA chorus ], from Five Songs for Female Voices and Piano
by Harold Hinchcliffe Sykes , "The Bells" [ 2-part chorus of treble voices in canon ]
by George Wald , "The Bells", published 1942 [ satb chorus a cappella ]
by Michael White (b. 1931), "The Silver Bells", published 1961 [ mixed chorus a cappella ]
by Philip George Wilkinson (b. 1929), "The Bells", published 1954 [ chorus ], partsong
by Harry Robert Wilson (1901 - 1968), "The Bells", published 1968
by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "The bells", 2015 [ soprano and piano ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Konstantin Dmitrevich Bal'mont (1867 - 1942) , no title, appears in Колокольчики и колокола (Kolokol'chiki i kolokola), no. 4 [an adaptation] ; composed by Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Mallarmé) , no title, appears in Les cloches, no. 4

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-12-14
Line count: 44
Word count: 231