Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE PEAL OF THE BELLS, by HENRY DAVID THOREAU Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When the world grows old by the chimney side Last Line: When it meeteth another in space. Subject(s): Bells; Sound | ||||||||
When the world grows old by the chimney side, Then forth to the youngling rocks I glide -- Where over the water, and over the land, The bells are booming on either hand. Now up they go ding, then down again dong, And awhile they swing to the same old song, And the metal goes round 't a single bound, A-lulling the fields with its measured sound -- Till the tired tongue falls with a lengthened boom, As solemn and loud as the crack of doom. Then changed is their measure to tone upon tone, And seldom it is that one sound comes alone, For they ring out their peals in a mingled throng, And the breezes waft the loud ding-dong along. When the echo has reached me in this lone vale, I am straightway a hero in coat of mail, I tug at my belt and I march on my post, And feel myself more than a match for a host. I am on the alert for some wonderful Thing, Which somewhere's a taking place, 'Tis perchance the salute which our planet doth ring When it meeteth another in space. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SOUND IS LIKE ANY OTHER by DAVID IGNATOW NATURAL MUSIC by ROBINSON JEFFERS CHAMBER MUSIC: 35 by JAMES JOYCE WHAT THE MOTORCYCLE SAID by MONA VAN DUYN THE LIFE OF TOWNS: TOWN OF THE DRAGON VEIN by ANNE CARSON CALIBAN [ON THE ISLAND], FR. THE TEMPEST by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE |
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