The Bells (poem)

"The Bells" is a heavily onomatopoeic poem by Edgar Allan Poe which was not published until after his death in 1849.

F. O. Matthiessen rejected the repetitive sounds employed and musical tone as "a case of onomatopoeia pushed to a point where it would hardly be possible or desirable to go again".

[10] Poe biographer Jeffrey Meyers noted that "The Bells" is often criticized for sounding mechanical and forced.

It was also published in Horace Greeley's the New York Daily Tribune newspaper on the front page of its October 17, 1849 issue as "Poe's Last Poem".

[13] Inspiration for the poem is often granted to Marie Louise Shew, a woman who had helped care for Poe's wife Virginia as she lay dying.

Shew allegedly heard ringing bells from afar and playfully suggested to start there, possibly even writing the first line of each stanza.

This album was also the basis for a musical stage production that was performed in England, Austria, and other European countries.

In 1993 Danish composer Poul Ruders wrote a piece "The Bells" for high soprano and ten instruments, using Poe's text in its entirety although in Dutch.

MC Lars, a nerdcore hip hop musician, sang a complete version of the poem on his 2012 Edgar Allan Poe EP titled "(Rock) The Bells".