Next is an extract from a poem called ‘The Bells’ by Edgar Allan Poe. This is one of the most onomatopoeic works of literature in history. In four stanzas, Poe uses diff erent onomatopoeic words to mimic the sounds of four diff erent bells. In the stanza we will read from this poem, he describes ‘loud alarum bells’.
‘The Bells’ BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
III
Hear the loud alarum bells, Brazen bells! What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrifi ed to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune […]
How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air! Yet the ear it fully knows. By the twanging And the clanging.
How the danger ebbs and fl ows […]
To read the entire poem, go to www.poets.org/ poem/bells
1. Identify at least three examples of onomatopoeia in this stanza from ‘The Bells’.
2. Explain the eff ect that onomatopoeia in this poem creates.
