Hear the loud alarum bells

Hear the loud alarum bells --
Brazen bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek,
Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Leaping higher, higher, higher,
With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor,
Now -- now to sit or never,
By the side of the pale-faced moon.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows:
Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling,
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells --
Of the bells --
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells --
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!

by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) , no title, from The Bells, no. 3

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

[ None yet in the database ]

by Thomas Anderton (1836-1903) , "The Sleighbells", published 187-? [trio of treble voices and piano] [see full setting text]
by Frank Ahrold (1931-) , "The Bells", published 1967. [SATB] [see full setting text]
by Emma Lou Diemer (1927-) , "The Bells", published 1961. [chorus: SATB and piano four-hands] [see full setting text]
by John Emeléus , "The Bells", published 1962. [unison song] [see full setting text]
by Arthur Foote (1853-1937) , "The Bells", published 1929. [chorus: SATB and piano] [see full setting text]
by George Fox (1854-1902) , "The Bells", published 1876. [cantata: SATB and orchestra] [see full setting text]
by William Wallace Gilchrist (1846-1916) , "The Bells", published 1913. [chorus: SSAA and piano] [see full setting text]
by John Habash , "The Bells", published 1963 [chorus: SATB], note: words adapted by Edna Lewis [see full setting text]
by Cuthbert Harris (1870-1932) , "Silver Sleigh Bells", published 1922. [SSA trio or SATB] [see full setting text]
by H. Stanley Hawley (1867-1916) , "The Bells", published 1894. [recit. with piano] [see full setting text]
by Joseph (or Josef) Charles Holbrooke (1878-1958) , "The Bells", op. 50a, published 1906 [chorus and grand orchestra], note: also set in a German translation by Alice Klengel [see full setting text]
by Fedor Kebalin , "The Bells", published 1966, from Canticle of Seasons [see full setting text]
by Hazel Gertrude Kinscella (1893-1960) , "The Bells", published 1938. [chorus: SSA and piano] [see full setting text]
by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815-1868) , "The Bells" [see full setting text]
by Henry Lahee (1826-1912) , "The Bells", op. 128 no. 1, published 1937 [SSA and piano], note: arranged by Purcell J. Mansfield [see full setting text]
by F. Lancelott , "The Bells", published 1957. [cantata] [see full setting text]
by Franco Leoni (1864-1949) , "The Bells", published 1908. [vocal scene for baritone or contralto and orchestra] [see full setting text]
by Clarence Lucas (1866-1947) , "The Bells", op. 56, published 1913. [madrigal: SATB a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Nicola Aloysius Montani (1880-1948) , "The Bells", published 1917. [cantata: SSA chorus, soprano and alto soli, piano or orchestra] [see full setting text]
by Phil Ochs (1940-1976) , "The Bells", published 1967 [chorus: SATB and piano], arranged by Herbert Haufrecht [see full setting text]
by C. Alexander Peloquin , "The Bells", published 1964. [chorus: mixed voices, two pianos, two double-basses, percussion] [see full setting text]
by Franz Petersilea (-1878) , "The Bells" [see full setting text]
by Alfred Plumpton , "The Bells", published 1867. [see full setting text]
by Sam Raphling (1910-) , "The Bells", published 1958. [six-part mixed chorus a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Sir Hugh Stevenson Roberton (1874-1952) , "The Sledge Bells", published 1909. [partsong: SATB a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Godfrey Sampson , "The Bells", published 1946. [see full setting text]
by Arsene Siegel (1897-) , "The Iron Bells", published 1945. [medium voice and piano] [see full setting text]
by David E. Stone (1922-) , "Winter (The Bells)", published 1980 [SSA], from Five Songs for Female Voices and Piano [see full setting text]
by Harold Hinchcliffe Sykes , "The Bells" [two-part canon for treble voices] [see full setting text]
by George Wald , "The Bells", published 1942. [chorus: SATB a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Michael White (1931-) , "The Silver Bells", published 1961. [mixed chorus a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Philip George Wilkinson (1929-) , "The Bells", published 1954. [two-part song] [see full setting text]
by Harry Robert Wilson (1901-?) , "The Bells", published 1968. [see full setting text]

by Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov (1873-1943) , no title, op. 35 no. 3, published 1920 [chorus, soprano, tenor, baritone soloists, and orchestra], from Kolokola, no. 3.

Date added to the website: 2007-12-14.

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Slyshish', vojushchij nabat

Slyshish', vojushchij nabat,
Tochno stonet mednyj ad!
`Eti zvuki, v dikoj muke, skazku uzhasov tverdjat.
Tochno moljat im pomoch',
Krik kidajut prjamo v noch',
Prjamo v ushi temnoj nochi
Kazhdyj zvuk,
To dlinnee, to koroche,
Vyklikaet svoj ispug, -
I ispug ikh tak velik,
Tak bezumen kazhdyj krik,
Chto razorvannye zvony, nesposobnye zvuchat',
Mogut tol'ko bit'sja, vit'sja i krichat', krichat', krichat'!
Tol'ko plakat' o poshchade
I k pylajushchej gromade
Vopli skorbi obrashchat'!
A mezh tem ogon' bezumnyj,
I glukhoj i mnogoshumnyj,
Vse gorit,
To iz okon, to po kryshe,
Mchitsja vyshe, vyshe, vyshe,
I kak budto govorit:
Ja khochu
Vyshe mchat'sja, razgorat'sja - vstrechu lunnomu luchu, -
Il' umru, il' totchas-totchas vplot' do mesjaca vzlechu!
O, nabat, nabat, nabat,
Esli b ty vernul nazad
`Etot uzhas, `eto plamja, `etu iskru, `etot vzgljad,
`Etot pervyj vzgljad ognja,
O kotorom ty veshchaesh', s plachem, s voplem i zvenja!
A teper' nam net spasen'ja,
Vsjudu plamja i kipen'e,
Vsjudu strakh i vozmushchen'e!
Tvoj prizyv,
Dikikh zvukov nesoglasnost'
Vozveshchaet nam opasnost', -
To rastet beda glukhaja, to spadaet, kak priliv!
Slukh nash chutko lovit volny v peremene zvukovoj,
Vnov' spadaet, vnov' rydaet medno-stonushchij priboj.

Show Cyrillic (Покажите текст в кириллице)
Note on Transliteration

by Konstantin Dmitrevich Bal'mont (1867-1942) , from Kolokol'chiki i kolokola

a text in English by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) , no title, from The Bells, no. 3

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov (1873-1943) , no title, op. 35 no. 3, published 1920 [chorus, soprano, tenor, baritone soloists, and orchestra], from Kolokola, no. 3.

ENG English (Ahmed E. Ismail)

Date added to the website: 2007-12-14.