I have been putting off writing this post for a long time, which brings to mind the old adage: “Procrastination is the thief of time.”

Few readers may know that its earliest usage arose in a lengthly poem entitled:
“The Complaint — Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immorality” by Edward Young (1663—1765), more popularly known as “Night Thoughts.” It contains nine parts, each written in free verse, reflecting on the death of his spouse and friends over a series of nine nights. Young wrote the poem between 1742—1745, an era when people arguably enjoyed more time for reflection than they do now. I quote a few lines from “Night the First.”

Be wise today, ’tis madness to defer;
Next day the fatal precedent will plead;
Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of life:
Procrastination is the thief of time,
Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves
The vast concerns of an eternal scene.

Young’s poem contains some ten thousand lines, of which just one line became immortal. Notably, the length of the poem provides a perfect excuse to procrastinate its reading.

Procrastination is also a trait of traitors. Aaron Burr, perhaps America’s first and best known traitor, adopted a different approach: “Never do today what you can as well do tomorrow, as something may occur to make you regret your premature action.” (Life of Aaron Burr by James Parton (1822—1891.) Unfortunately, if Burr had procrastinated one more day, he may have avoided conspiring with the enemy.

On a happier note, procrastination became fodder for humorists. Mark Twain added to Burr’s offering, with some humor: “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done the day after tomorrow just as well.” (Goodreads.) Oscar Wilde adopted another tact, twisting the thought by substituting punctuality for procrastination: “Punctuality is the thief of time,” for being on time wastes your time, since everyone else is always late. (Picture of Dorian Gray.)

Appropriately, I conclude this post with a terse Ben Franklin saying: “You may delay, but time will not.”

As noted in my previous post, a sesquipedalian (a person who uses long words) will draw attention to brobdingnagian (huge) words, not so much for usage as for wonderment. I turn now to more three ‘little’ words, which ring with titillating sonority:

1) Onomatopoeia (pronounced ona – may – ta’ – pee – a) is a BIG word for sound imitation. It defines the formation of words whose sound is imitative of the noise or action designated, such as hiss, buzz, or bang; and the use of such words for poetic or rhetorical effect. (The Free Dictionary.)

2) Tintinnabulation (pronounced tin – tin – ab – u – la’ – tion) defines the ringing or sounding of bells; a jingling or tingling sound, as of bells. It derives from the Latin words tintinnabulum, the noun for “bell,” and tintinnarem the verb “to ring.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary.) The sounds of bells invoke many onomatopoeic words, which toll and roll, clang and clash, jingle and jangle.

3) Reverberation: A sound that echoes; a prolongation of sound. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Google dictionary) Unlike the other two words, reverberatation is well known to most people, who recognize it in useage and in real chime.

“The Bells”, a four stanza poem written by Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849), uses onomatopoeia throughout – – a pleasurable tintinnabulation with syncopated reverberation. With ‘little’ words like that, the ring is rung, the ding is done, the dong is gone. To paraphrase a famous Shakespearean quote from Romeo & Juliet: Tintinnabulation by any other name would reverberate as well.

Poe’s poem, written shortly before his death in October 1849, keeps a syncopated, pulsing rhythm:

“Keeping time, time, time
In sort of Runic rhyme,
to the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells bells, bells
Bells, bells bells
From the jingling and the tinkling of
The bells.”

As Poe’s bells swing and ring, they tinkle, jingle, jangle, wrangle, clamor, clang, clash, roar, twang, knell, toll, roll, rhyme, chime, scream, shriek, throb, sob, moan and groan. Poe leaves no tone unturned!

He addresses all kinds and shapes of bells including silver, gold, iron and alarm bells. By the end of the poem, one’s nerves are wrung, frayed and frazzled. Additionally, for reasons unknown, Poe used unusual indentations to emphasize the sounds. “The Bells” poem captures the meaning of the three ‘little’ words above, and remains a work best read aloud to please the ear.