'Bell upon Organ
It's all very well,Said the Bell,To be the big Organ below!But the folk come and go,Said the Bell,And you never can tellWhat sort of person the Organ will blow!And, besides, it is much at the mercy of the weatherFor 'tis all made in pieces and glued together!
But up in my cellNext door to the sky,Said the Bell,I dwellVery high;And with glorious goI swing to and fro;I swing swift or slow,I swing as I please,With summons or knell;I swing at my ease,Said the Bell:Not the tallest of menCan reach up to touch me,To smirch me or smutch me,Or make me do whatI would not be at!And, then,The weather can't cause me to shrink or increase:I chose to be made in one perfect piece!
Words in this poem
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- smirch v. t.
- To smear with something which stains, or makes dirty; to smutch; to begrime; to soil; to sully. [From the root of smear.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
'Bell upon Organ is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, 'Bell upon Organ, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/bell-upon-organ.html, id L22287.
Form and metre
'Bell upon Organ is 29 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 AABBAABCC wellA · bellA · belowB · goB · bellA · tellA · blowB · weatherC · togetherC
- 2 ABAABCCCDADAEFF--EGG cellA · skyB · bellA · dwellA · highB · goC · froC · slowC · pleaseD · knellA · easeD · bellA · menE · meF · meF · what · at · thenE · increaseG · pieceG
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It's all very well, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Said the Bell, | 3 | ··· |
| To be the big Organ below! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| But the folk come and go, | 6 | ······ |
| Said the Bell, | 3 | ··· |
| And you never can tell | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| What sort of person the Organ will blow! | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| And, besides, it is much at the mercy of the weather | 14 | ·˘/·····/˘··/˘ |
| For 'tis all made in pieces and glued together! | 12 | ·····/˘··˘/˘ |
| But up in my cell | 5 | ····· |
| Next door to the sky, | 5 | ····· |
| Said the Bell, | 3 | ··· |
| I dwell | 2 | ·· |
| Very high; | 3 | /˘· |
| And with glorious go | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| I swing to and fro; | 5 | ····· |
| I swing swift or slow, | 5 | ····· |
| I swing as I please, | 5 | ····· |
| With summons or knell; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| I swing at my ease, | 5 | ····· |
| Said the Bell: | 3 | ··· |
| Not the tallest of men | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Can reach up to touch me, | 6 | ······ |
| To smirch me or smutch me, | 6 | ······ |
| Or make me do what | 5 | ····· |
| I would not be at! | 5 | ····· |
| And, then, | 2 | ·· |
| The weather can't cause me to shrink or increase: | 11 | ·/˘······/· |
| I chose to be made in one perfect piece! | 10 | ·······˘/· |
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.