And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating Hear the sledges with the bells Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that oversprinkle Keeping time, time, time, 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 15 20 Hear the mellow wedding bells Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight! 5 10 15 From the molten-golden notes, And all in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats Oh, from out the sounding cells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it dwells On the future! - how it tells Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing 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! 20 What a tale of terror now their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night 25 How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor Now now to sit, or never, 5 By the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! What a tale their terror tells Of Despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! On the bosom of the palpitating air! By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells, Of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells In the clamor and the clangor of the bells! IV 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 tore! On the human heart a stone And their king it is who tolls:- Rolls A pæan from the bells! With the pean of the bells! Keeping time, time, time To the sobbing of the bells: - As he knells, knells, knells. |