Hear the loud al arum bells —
Brazen bells !
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells.
In the startled ear of night
How they scream ont their aff’rigt !
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 desesperale desire,
And a résolute endeavour
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 car it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
Hew the danger ebbs aud flows
Yet the car distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling,
How the danger sink and swells,
By the sinking or the sivelling in the anger of the bells —
Of the bells —
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells —
In the clamour and the clangour of the bells !
