The Bell

Quiz — "The Bell" by Alfred Noyes

1. Recall – Form & Structure: What narrative tradition does "The Bell" draw on in terms of its form, and what literary device does Noyes use repeatedly to create a driving, incantatory rhythm?

1. Recall – Source Legend: Which real-world cultural legend most directly inspired "The Bell," and from which country does that legend primarily originate?

1. Recall – Key Image: What does the bell do to the air and the community around it when it is "out of tune," according to the analysis?

1. Recall – The Three Attempts: Across the three attempts to recast the bell, what kinds of offerings are made in the first two attempts, and why do they ultimately fail?

1. Comprehension – The Woman's Offering: How does the mother's offering differ from everything that came before it, and what detail of her appearance signals her role as a sacrificial figure?

1. Comprehension – Tone Shift: The poem's tone moves through three distinct registers. Identify all three and explain what event or moment triggers each shift.

1. Comprehension – The Bell's Night Cry: What does the bell do in the final stanza, and why does this prevent the poem from ending on a note of simple triumph?

1. Analysis – Symbolism of Gold and the Crown: What do the king's crown and the miser's hoard symbolize, and what argument does their failure to fix the bell make about the nature of true sacrifice?

1. Analysis – The Child as Symbol: According to the analysis, what does the infant represent, and how does the child's continued presence within the bell transform the object's meaning by the poem's end?

1. Analysis – Theme of Sacrifice and Sorrow: The analysis describes the poem's overall effect as "solemn grief wrapped in the fabric of legend." Using at least two symbols or structural features discussed in the analysis, explain how Noyes achieves this effect.

Answer Key

1. "The Bell" draws on the ballad tradition, and Noyes uses repetition (of ritual actions, phrases, and the pattern of three attempts) to create its incantatory, driving rhythm.

1. The poem is most directly inspired by the legend of the Emille Bell of Korea, cast in the 8th century, though similar stories exist in Japan and China.

1. When out of tune, the bell corrupts rather than sanctifies — it taints the air and spreads deceit, turning what should be a sacred call to devotion into a source of corruption.

1. The first attempt collects material wealth (silver, gold, a miser's hoard, a king's sword) that "no man missed" — nobody truly gave anything up. The second escalates with the king's crown, wine, blood, fruit, and honeycomb. Both fail because the offerings involve no genuine personal cost; the gods are not moved by convenience or excess.

1. The mother offers her infant son — the thing she loves most — rather than any material possession or symbol of status. Her white robe signals her sacrificial role, marking her apart from the crowd and evoking both purity and mourning.

1. The three tonal registers are: (1) ceremonial and incantatory — established through the ritual recasting and oracle's pronouncements; (2) intimate and tender, like a lullaby — triggered by the mother's arrival and her gentle cradling of her child; (3) raw and unresolved/mournful — triggered by the final stanza, where the bell cries in the night and the poem closes with a question rather than an answer.

1. In the final stanza, the bell cries softly in the night, seemingly mourning — echoing the child's voice calling for his mother. This transforms victory into sorrow, suggesting the sacrifice left a permanent wound in the world rather than a clean resolution.

1. The king's crown and the miser's hoard symbolize worldly power and status. Their failure demonstrates that no amount of material wealth or social authority can achieve true spiritual perfection — only a deeply personal, irreplaceable sacrifice can.

1. The infant represents innocent life and unconditional love — something beyond compensation or replacement. By the poem's end, the child's echoing cries within the bell transform it from a mere instrument into a living monument to loss, making every ring a reminder of what was given up.

1. Noyes achieves "solemn grief wrapped in the fabric of legend" through, for example: (a) the three-attempt structure, which gives the poem the distanced, inevitable feel of myth, softening the horror into ritual — yet the mother's intimate tenderness shatters that distance; and (b) the night cry symbol, which ensures that the bell's perfect tone is forever shadowed by mourning, so beauty and loss become inseparable. The closing question rather than a resolution leaves the grief open and unresolved, refusing the reader the comfort of a tidy moral.