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]1 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.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Hall: "meaning of the"

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