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.