How still the bells in steeples stand
How still the bells in steeples stand,Till, swollen with the sky,They leap upon their silver feetIn frantic melody!
About this text
How still the bells in steeples stand is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, How still the bells in steeples stand, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/how-still-the-bells-in-steeples-stand.html, id L19008.
Form and metre
How still the bells in steeples stand is 4 lines in a single stanza.
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.
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| How still the bells in steeples stand, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till, swollen with the sky, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| They leap upon their silver feet | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In frantic melody! | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
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.