Which reading of "The Bells" is more suitable for bringing focus to the sound
of the poem than to the meaning, and why?
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Hear the sledges with the bells,
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars, that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a 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.
A. Reading 2, because it is slow enough for listeners to reflect on
each word but does not emphasize the rhyme pattern
B. Reading 2, because the volume is reminiscent of a droning bell,
but it is too consistently loud to highlight specific words
C. Reading 1, because it emphasizes the rhyme and meter but is too.
quick to let every word sink in thoroughly
D. Reading 1, because the soft volume of the speaker causes the
listener to attend more carefully to each word​