Tintinnabulation



 

 

Bells? For Halloween? Well, consider this reflection from the hand of Edgar Allen Poe......

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

I wasn't there when those words were written, but perhaps ordinary vessels of merriment were cast in an eerie glow because the poet, while penning of them, encountered interruption of a disturbing nature.....

....with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a Raven of the saintly days of yore

Here I will help myself to a generous portion of creative license by suggesting that the aforementioned bells shrieked from the perch of ebony birds.....birds that refused departure despite a hearty implore to not only do so, but...

Leave no black plume as a token.....!






Consider this speculative interpretation of Poe's dilemma. Consider the pecking and cawing congregation - the one taking residence on a cluster of bells, bells, bells, bells. Consider, further, their persistence in the casting of curious eyes upon the craftsman who dares assemble them in heroic homage to the poet! Then pose the question, "Will crafted bells and watchful birds comply to actually peal for us a melancholy tune?"

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore!"
 

Make a set of Halloween bells from plastic or Styrofoam cups. Spray interiors black. Cut a strip of tissue paper a few inches taller than cup height and longer than circumference at its widest point. Wrap tissue around the outside of the cup, pressing along top and bottom edges to make a pattern. Cut on pressed lines. Double check the shape to make sure it curves to cover the cup. Trace pattern on paper, then cut out and glue to cup.

Cut a length of thin cord, string, raffia, ribbon or yarn twice the height of the cup plus ample extra length for hanging. Punch a small hole through center bottom of cup. Pull cord through, then make a knot larger than the hole at the point where cord is twice the height of the cup. Pull backwards until the knot catches and holds on inside bottom. Secure with glue.




Hand draw ravens on black paper, cut them out, then nest them in sticks and excelsior on top of cups. Tie miscellaneous gizmoes to cords for clappers.

Hang completed bells in a group, close your eyes, and imagine......

....the tintinnabulation that so musically wells 
From the bells, bells, bells, bells -
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells

then waken to observe that.....

 the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting......















Acknowledgements:

Edgar Allen Poe Society of Baltimore. (1849). The bells. Retrieved October 5, 2013 from
   http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poebtsp2.htm

Edgar Allen Poe Society of Baltimore. (1845). The raven. Retrieved October 5, 2013 from
   http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poebtsp2.htm