UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SELECT READINGS. THE BELLS. I. HEAR the sledges with the bells- What a world of merriment their melody foretells! In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells. From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. II. Hear the mellow wedding-bells— Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! B Through the balmy air of night What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats Oh, from out the sounding cells What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it dwells On the future! how it tells Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! III. Hear the loud alarum-bells Brazen bells! What a tale of terror now their turbulency tells! How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek! shriek ! Out of tune, In a clamourous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, |