Hear the tolling of the bells

Hear the tolling of the bells --
Iron Bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy menace of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people -- ah, the people --
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All Alone
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone --
They are neither man nor woman --
They are neither brute nor human --
They are Ghouls:
And their king it is who tolls;
And he rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A paean from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the paean of the bells --
Of the bells:
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells --
Of the bells, bells, bells --
To the sobbing of the bells;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells --
Of the bells, bells, bells:
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells --
Bells, bells, bells --
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) , no title, from The Bells, no. 4

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

by Sir Hugh Stevenson Roberton (1874-1952) , "Hear the tolling of the bells", published 1909. [chorus: SATB a cappella]

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. 4, published 1920 [chorus, soprano, tenor, baritone soloists, and orchestra], from Kolokola, no. 4.

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

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Pokhoronnyj slyshen zvon

Pokhoronnyj slyshen zvon,
Dolgij zvon!
Gor'koj skorbi slyshny zvuki, gor'koj zhizni konchen son, -
Zvuk zheleznyj vozveshchaet o pechali pokhoron!
I nevol'no my drozhim,
Ot zabav svoikh speshim
I rydaem, vspominaem, chto i my glaza smezhim.
Neizmenno-monotonnyj,
`Etot vozglas otdalennyj,
Pokhoronnyj tjazhkij zvon,
Tochno ston -
Skorbnyj, gnevnyj
I plachevnyj -
Vyrastaet v dolgij gul,
Vozveshchaet, chto stradalec neprobudnym snom usnul.
V kolokol'nykh kel'jakh rzhavykh
On dlja pravykh i nepravykh
Grozno vtorit ob odnom:
Chto na serdce budet kamen', chto glaza somknutsja snom.
Fakel traurnyj gorit,
S kolokol'ni kto-to kriknul, kto-to gromko govorit.
Kto-to chernyj tam stoit,
I khokhochet, i gremit,
I gudit, gudit, gudit,
K kolokol'ne pripadaet,
Gulkij kolokol kachaet -
Gulkij kolokol rydaet,
Stonet v vozdukhe nemom
I protjazhno vozveshchaet o pokoe grobom.

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. 4

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. 4, published 1920 [chorus, soprano, tenor, baritone soloists, and orchestra], from Kolokola, no. 4.

ENG English (Ahmed E. Ismail)

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