The "Song of the Bell" (German: "Das Lied von der Glocke", also translated as "The Lay of the Bell") is a poem that the German poet Friedrich Schiller published in 1798. It is one of the most famous poems of German literature and with 430 lines one of Schiller's longest. In it, Schiller combines a knowledgeable technical description of a bellfounding with points of view and comments on human life, its possibilities and risks.
Origin
As a small boy Schiller came in contact with the trade of bellfounding because Georg Friderich Neubert, the son of the Ludwigsburg bellfounder, was a classmate at his Latin school and the Schiller family lived only a few doors away from the casting house. It is also considered to be certain that Schiller visited the Neubert family again during his stay in Ludwigsburg 1793/94. More than ten years passed between the first basic idea for the poem and its completion. During this time Schiller closely observed the sequence of operations in a bellfoundry. In the family of the Rudolstadt bellfounder Johann Mayer it was related from generation to generation, "how Schiller repeatedly visited the casting works and interrogated the casting master, who at first was not pleased about this disruption to the work, and how the pale scholar considerately took a seat at the wall in a high-backed chair in order not to disturb the work."
Contents
Motto
The first indented line between the title and the first stanza is in Latin and reads "Vivos voco. Mortuos plango. Fulgura frango", approximately translating as "I call the living, I mourn the dead, I repel lightning."
Bell casting and the course of life
A look at the assembled form: The first stanza calls attention to the preliminary work which precedes the actual casting process. The clay form is in a banked pit ready to be filled with the molten metal. The molten wax method is described, in which a wax model of the bell is first made. Because in the course of the casting both the model and the form are destroyed the procedure is also known as the lost wax process. Giving meaning to work: The first observation marks the actual beginning of the poem. Nobody who carries out any work should do it thoughtlessly, but must rather put his heart into it.
Preparing the alloy for casting: Schiller describes the wood fuel, the opening in the smelting furnace through which the flame sweeps over the metal, the door which permits the fire to be stirred up and when closed forces the flame into the furnace. One has to imagine the casting pit as being close to the furnace where the metal is stacked up. First the copper is introduced, and when that is liquefied the easier-to-melt tin is added. Attesting to life’s milestones: The second observation describes the subject of the poem in more detail. The bell which is created in the depths of the pit will sing the praises of the casting master when it is later up in the belfry. It will outlast many generations, and accompany every transition in human life.
Melting the alloy: When the three parts copper and one part tin are melted, a white foam forms on the surface which captures any impurities. Its formation is facilitated by the addition of potash. From baptism to first love: The third observation begins with describing childhood. Solemnly the bell greets the child who is to be baptized. His fate is however uncertain. His mother watches over his first years of life. Later the young man leaves his sweetheart behind and goes out into the world. When he returns she has become a blossoming young woman and he falls in love with her and experiences the transitory, "splendid moment of first love".
Inspecting the melt: At the furnace are windpipes or draft holes which can be opened or closed, as needed. After the metal has been in the furnace for 12 hours the pipes turn yellow indicating that it is time for casting. But first a test is made by dipping a little rod into the liquefied metal. If it looks as if it has been glazed, then it is assumed that the brittle copper has merged with the softer tin. Wedding bell and allocation of roles: In the fourth observation the bell calls people to the wedding celebration which is the climax of the happy love affair, after which it makes place for family life. The stanza continues by describing a traditional family, with the man going out into a hostile world while at home the virtuous housewife prevails.