The Bells
Shadow and light both strove to beThe eight bell-ringers' company,As with his gliding rope in hand,Counting his changes, each did stand;While rang and trembled every stone,To music by the bell-mouths blown,Till the bright clouds that towered on highSeemed to re-echo cry with cry.Still swang the clappers to and fro,When, in the far-spread fields below,I saw a ploughman with his teamLift to the bells and fix on themHis distant eyes, as if he wouldDrink in the utmost sound he could;While near him sat his children three,And in the green grass placidlyPlayed undistracted on, as ifWhat music earthly bells might giveCould only faintly stir their dream,And stillness make more lovely seem.Soon night hid horses, children, allIn sleep deep and ambrosial;Yet, yet it seemed from star to star,Welling now near, now faint and far,Those echoing bells rang on in dream,And stillness made even lovelier seem.
Words in this poem
- towered a.
- Adorned or defended by towers.
- ploughman n.
- One who plows, or who holds and guides a plow; hence, a husbandman. Chaucer.
- placidly adv.
- In a placid manner.
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- ambrosial a.
- Consisting of, or partaking of the nature of, ambrosia; delighting the taste or smell; delicious.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Bells is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Listeners and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22569; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walter de la Mare, The Bells, in The Listeners and Other Poems (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22569, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/de-la-mare-listeners/the-bells.html, id L17073.
Form and metre
The Bells is 26 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-BBCCDDEEF-GGA---FFHHIIFF beA · company · handB · standB · stoneC · blownC · highD · cryD · froE · belowE · teamF · them · wouldG · couldG · threeA · placidly · if · give · dreamF · seemF · allH · ambrosialH · starI · farI · dreamF · seemF
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow and light both strove to be | 8 | /······· |
| The eight bell-ringers' company, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| As with his gliding rope in hand, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Counting his changes, each did stand; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| While rang and trembled every stone, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To music by the bell-mouths blown, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Till the bright clouds that towered on high | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Seemed to re-echo cry with cry. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Still swang the clappers to and fro, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When, in the far-spread fields below, | 8 | ········ |
| I saw a ploughman with his team | 8 | ········ |
| Lift to the bells and fix on them | 8 | ········ |
| His distant eyes, as if he would | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Drink in the utmost sound he could; | 8 | ···/···· |
| While near him sat his children three, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And in the green grass placidly | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Played undistracted on, as if | 8 | ········ |
| What music earthly bells might give | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Could only faintly stir their dream, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And stillness make more lovely seem. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Soon night hid horses, children, all | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In sleep deep and ambrosial; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Yet, yet it seemed from star to star, | 8 | ········ |
| Welling now near, now faint and far, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Those echoing bells rang on in dream, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And stillness made even lovelier seem. | 9 | ·/˘·/···· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.