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Old 06-02-2013, 09:29 AM   #3
niffer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 239
Default Re: The Wreck - church bells in the musty old hall

That's exactly right, jj. The meter would have been thrown off, sounding odd and forced.

Gordon, like all artists, has poetic license, but I never felt that he used it in this line. It always seemed obvious to me that the church bell chimed once for each lost sailor, a fitting tribute and a lovely and haunting bit of imagery. Plus, that's what actually happened.
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