Bells to the End

The fading sound of a bell,

Is the only sound heard

In this tattered land that they dwell.


Surviving each bombardment and shell,

Their voices fall mute and slurred.

The fading sound of a bell.


A repulsive, sordid smell

The year of the third

In this tattered land that they dwell.


A life of hell,

Their spoils rotten and curd.

The fading sound of a bell.


With so many souls to sell,

Coffins for the stiff and the stirred

In this tattered land that they dwell.


“Sound off the knell,”

Silence, before ringing off to the herd.

The fading sound of a bell

In this tattered land that they dwell.

Author's Notes/Comments: 

My first attempt of a villanelle. The idea struck of a mistake I made involving the word knell, which I learned was a bell played at a funeral. Rife with writing material. I tried to keep it subtle throughout, not trying to explain what the bell symbolises until the last line. Whether I succeeded or not I'm not sure, but I do like how this turned out in the end.

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