A Peal Of Bells
Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)
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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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 52 sec read
- 158 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCBDXDXEFFCEXX AGHGHIJJIJKJLLK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 936 |
Words | 172 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 15, 15 |
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"A Peal Of Bells" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/5711/a-peal-of-bells>.
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