by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849)
Translation by Georgi Mihaylov (1893 - 1950)
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]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 text without footnotes1 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]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- 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 (1927 - 2024), "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 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 (1929 - 2011), "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):
- BLG Bulgarian (Български) (Georgi Mihaylov)
- 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
Погребален скръбен звън
Language: Bulgarian (Български) after the English
Погребален скръбен звън
Стене вън!…
Вечна горест в тленна орис — край на горкий жизнен сън.
В тихия вечерен час
С ужаса на своя глас
Колко скръб той буди в нас! —
И неволно ний тъжим:
Поглед в сълзи потопим,
И ридаем в скръб, че знаем: сън навеки ще заспим!
Тъй унил и тъй печален,
Той нараства в дълъг плач
И в привечерния здрач
Със припева погребален
В Божий храм
Слят едвам —
Бам!…
Бам!…
— Ту плачевен, ту сподавен, тоя гневен, бавен звън
Възвестява, че страдалец е заспал последен сън!
От черковните килии
И за грешни и светии
Отечава тъжен звън:
Пръст сърцето ще покрие, а очите — вечен сън!
О, там черният звънар,
Смел и твърд,
Бий на смърт —
Смърт!
Той над всички горд стои
Като някой господар —
Някой цар!
Той се смее и шуми.
И, гърми, гърми, гърми;
До камбаната застава
И така я разлюлява,
Че тя горко заридава —
И с плача си възвестява,
Че вървим
Все натам
В своя друм
Бим!…
Бам!…
Бум!…
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Georgi Mihaylov (1893 - 1950) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849), no title, appears in The Bells, no. 4
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-05-01
Line count: 42
Word count: 171