Conveying The Mood Of The Stanzas In The Bells

Edgar Allen Poe uses different kinds of figurative language in his poems. The figurative language he uses brings his poems to life, while using very different vibes, starting with cheerful, but then ending in gloom. In his one poem,¨The Bells¨, he specifically uses personification, alliteration, and rhythm.

He uses personification throughout each stanza. In the first stanza, it gives off the vibe of dating. He uses the phrase,¨All the heavens, seem to twinkle¨, which is considered personification because heavens cannot literally twinkle. In the second stanza, he is inferring that the couple then gets married, which then makes him talk about the turtle doves that seem to listen to the delight of the bells, which would have to be considered personification because turtle doves do not actually listen. Edgar also talks about how the future also tells, but the future cannot literally speak to be able to tell. But, even though the future cannot literally speak, it is inferring that there is a lot of happiness and delight ahead of this couple. But, the fourth stanza begins to bring horror and danger for the couple, because now instead of the bells ringing delightfully, they are now clashing together, possibly like the couple is. But, the ear knows and tells us that there is danger in the relationship, but this would be considered personification because a ear cannot know or tell anything. The purpose of an ear is just to hear, to listen. The fifth stanza is showing that Poe is using personification to let the reader know that some sort of death have occurred, which could be a person or their relationship. He talks about the bells groaning with rust in their throats, but bells do not groan and they also do not have throats so they would not be able to have rust in them. He also is comparing bells to ghouls, but there is no such thing as a spirit-formed bell.

Edgar Allen Poe not only uses personification for his poems, but he also uses alliteration to emphasize certain moods, like in the first stanza. In the first stanza, Poe uses alliteration with the phrase ¨...merriment their melody foretells.¨ He also uses alliteration in the second stanza with the phrase,¨What a world of happiness their harmony foretells¨, which just means that they´re in sync with each other, being happy about marriage. The third stanza uses alliteration also with the phrase,¨What a tale their terror, now, their turbulency tells!¨ This is showing that the once happy and stable couple are now unstable and unhappy, like they are about to break up. In the fourth stanza, not only was there one line that showed an example of alliteration, but there is an example of alliteration in the last line, also. These examples are,¨How they clang, and clash, and roar!¨ and also ¨In the clamor and the clangor of the bells¨, which is showing that their relationship is in trouble, like they are constantly fighting. In the fifth stanza, there is again two examples of alliteration, which are,¨At the melancholy menace of their tone!¨ and ¨In that muffled monotone.¨ This is implying that they are sad that they broke up, like they have that sad voice in their throat. Like, whenever you cry and your voice is raspy and cracky.

Poe uses one last type of figurative language in his poem,¨The Bells.¨ According to Poe´s poem, he uses a different approach with rhyming then other poets do. When poe rhymes in his poem, he not only rhymes every line with each other, but he also sometimes skips lines to make his poem run more smoothly. So, instead of having every line rhyme with the line before that, he will skip lines and have for example the first and the third line rhyme, then maybe the second and the fourth line will rhyme. An example would be,¨How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars, that oversprinkle.¨ He does this throughout all four stanzas. He also brings back the same rhyming words throughout his poem, like the words bells and foretells. Not only that, but he also uses the words night, delight, wells, and tells.

Edgar Allen Poe is not only known for his dark and mysterious poems, but also for the figurative language that he puts in them. In this specific poem, the three most common figurative language were personification, alliteration, and rhyming. This has the poem run smoothly, while changing the mood with each event the couple went through based off of this poem.