Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A PEAL OF BELLS, by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A PEAL OF BELLS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Strike the bells wantonly
Last Line: His death is full, and mine begun.
Alternate Author Name(s): Alleyne, Ellen; Rossetti, Christina
Subject(s): Bells; Death; Dead, The


STRIKE the bells wantonly,
Tinkle tinkle well;
Bring me wine, bring me flowers,
Ring the silver bell.
All my lamps burn scented oil,
Hung on laden orange-trees,
Whose shadowed foliage is the foil
To golden lamps and oranges.
Heap my golden plates with fruit,
Golden fruit, fresh-plucked and ripe;
Strike the bells and breathe the pipe;
Shut out showers from summer hours --
Silence that complaining lute --
Shut out thinking, shut out pain,
From hours that cannot come again.

Strike the bells solemnly,
Ding dong deep:
My friend is passing to his bed,
Fast asleep;
There's plaited linen round his head,
While foremost go his feet --
His feet that cannot carry him.
My feast's a show, my lights are dim;
Be still, your music is not sweet, --
There is no music more for him.
His lights are out, his feast is done:
His bowl that sparkled to the brim
Is drained, is broken, cannot hold;
My blood is chill, his blood is cold;
His death is full, and mine begun.





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