NOTES. "Sartain's Union Magazine," December, 1849. "The singular poem of Mr. Poe's, called 'The Bells,' which we published in our last number, has been very extensively copied. There is a curious piece of literary history connected with this poem, which we may as well give now as at any other time. It illustrates the gradual development of an idea in the mind of a man of original genius. This poem came into our possession about a year since. It then consisted of eighteen lines! They were as follows: "THE BELLS. "THE bells! hear the bells! The merry wedding bells! The little silver bells! How fairy-like a melody there swells How horrible a monody there floats From their deep-toned throats! How I shudder at the notes From the melancholy throats Of the bells! "About six months after this we received the poem enlarged and altered nearly to its present size and form; and about three months since, the author sent another alteration and enlargement, in which condition the poem was left at the time of his death." Gill, "Life of Poe," p. 207: "The original MS. of 'The Bells,' in its enlarged form, from which the draft sent to Sartain's' was made, is in our possession at this time. "In the twelfth line of the first stanza of the original draft, the word 'bells' was repeated five times, instead of four, as Poe printed it, and but twice in the next line. In changing and obviously improving the effect, he has drawn his pen through the fifth repetition, and added another, underlined, to the two of the next line. The same change is made in the corresponding lines in the next stanza. In the sixth line of the third stanza, the word 'much' is placed before too' with the usual mark indicating the transposition which he made in printing it, and, as originally written, the word 'anger,' in the fifth line from the last in this stanza, was written clamor,' while anger' was placed in the last line. . . In the sixth line of the fourth stanza, the word 'meaning' was first used in lieu of the more impressive menace,' to which it gave place. The eighth line of this stanza was first written, 'From out their ghostly throats;' and the eleventh line was changed twice, reading first, 'Who live up in the steeple,' then "They that sleep' was substituted for who live,' and finally 'dwell' was printed instead of sleep.' After the eighteenth line, a line was added that was elided entirely in the poem as printed. It read, 6 "But are pestilential carcasses departed from their souls.' "... In making the change, omitting this line, he simply substituted, 'They are ghouls,' in the next line, in pencil." Ingram, "Life of Poe," ii. 155-156: "It was shortly after this, during the summer, that Poe wrote the first rough draft of 'The Bells,' and at Mrs. Shew's residence. 'One day he came in,' she records [in her diary], and said, "Marie Louise, I have to write a poem; I have no feeling, no sentiment, no inspiration." His hostess persuaded him to have some tea. It was served in the conservatory, the windows of which were open, and admitted the sound of neighboring church bells. Mrs. Shew said, playfully, 'Here is paper;' but the poet, declining it, declared, 'I so dislike the noise of bells to-night, I cannot write. I have no subject—I am exhausted.' The lady then took up the pen, and, pretending to mimic his style, wrote, 'The Bells, by E. A. Poe;' and then, in pure sportiveness, The Bells, the little silver Bells,' Poe finishing off the stanza. She then suggested for the next verse, The heavy iron Bells;' and this Poe also expanded into a stanza. He next copied out the complete poem, and headed it, 'By Mrs. M. L. Shew,' remarking that it was her poem, as she had suggested and composed so much of it. Mrs. Shew continues, "My brother came in, and I sent him to Mrs. Clemm to tell her that "her boy would stay in town, and was well." My brother took Mr. Poe to his own room, where he slept twelve hours, and could hardly recall the evening's work.'" 6 Chateaubriand. Génie du Christianisme, ii. 261. "Il nous semble que si nous étions poëte, nous ne dédaignerions point cette cloche agitée par les fantômes dans la vieille chapelle de la forêt, ni celle qu'une religieuse frayeur balançoit dans nos campagnes pour écarter le tonnerre, ni celle qu'on sonnoit la nuit, dans certains ports de mer, pour diriger le pilote à travers les écueils. Les carillons des cloches, au milieu de nos fêtes, sembloient augmenter l'allégresse publique; dans des calamités, au contraire, ces mêmes bruits devenoient terribles. Les cheveux dressent encore sur la tête au souvenir de ces jours de meurtre et de feu, retentissant des clameurs du tocsin. Qui de nous a perdu la mémoire de ces burlements, de ces cris aigus, entrecoupés de silences, durant lesquels on distinguoit de rares coups de fusil, quelque voix lamentable et solitaire, et surtout le bourdonnement de la cloche d'alarme, ou le son de l'horologe qui frappoit tranquillement l'heure écoulée?" ANNABEL LEE Annabel Lee. New York "Tribune," Oct. 9, 1849; "Southern Literary Messenger," November, 1849; "Sartain's Union Magazine," January, 1850. TEXT. "Tribune." Other readings: II. 1 I... She She... I S. L. M.; S. U. M. III. 5 kinsman S. U. M. VI. 8 sounding side of the S. L. M. Ulalume. ULALUME "American Whig Review" (sub-title, To -), December, 1847; "Home Journal," Jan. 1, 1848; Literary World, March 3, 1849; Griswold, 1850. TEXT. Griswold, 1850. Other readings: III. 9 We remembered Am. W. R.; H. J. Said we, then the two, then "Ah, can it Have been that the woodlandish ghouls To bar up our way and to ban it From the secret that lies in these wolds From the thing that lies hidden in these wolds Had drawn up the spectre of a planet From the limbo of lunary souls This sinfully scintillant planet From the Hell of the planetary souls. Am. W. R.: H. J. NOTES. "Home Journal," Jan. 1, 1848. 66 "We do not know how many readers we have who will enjoy, as we do, the following exquisitely piquant and skilful exercise of variety and niceness of language. It is a poem which we find in the American Review,' full of beauty and oddity in sentiment and versification, but a curiosity (and a delicious one we think) in philologic flavor. Who is the author?" Poe had requested Willis to ask the question (Poe to Willis. Dec. 8, 1847). SCENES FROM POLITIAN Scenes from Politian. "Southern Literary Messen ger," December, 1835, January, 1836; 1845. TEXT. 1845. Other readings, S. L. M.: II. 99 This sacred | A vow-a III. 6 Surely | I live 58 I surely 63 it that lattice 101 Believe me | Baldazzar! Oh! |