1. Hear the sledges with the bells—silver bells—
  2. What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
  3. How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle in the icy air of night!

The fourth line being very short had better be memorised in connection with the fifth line, and in the expression of the Analysis, we can print the first word of the fifth line with a capital letter. The two lines are:

  1. While the stars that oversprinkle
  2. All the heavens, seem to twinkle with a crystalline delight.

‌Before proceeding we may notice “night” of the third line is directly connected with “stars” of the fourth line by Concurrence. This observed relation will tend to cement the lines together. Using our Method we say: 1. Stars oversprinkle. 2. While the stars oversprinkle. 3. While the stars oversprinkle the heavens. 4. While the stars oversprinkle All the heavens. 5. While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens. 6. While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens seem to twinkle. 7. While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens seem to twinkle with delight. 8. While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens seem to twinkle with a crystalline delight. So far we have learned the following lines:

  1. Hear the sledges with the bells—silver bells—
  2. What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
  3. How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle in the icy air of night!
  4. While the stars that oversprinkle
  5. All the heavens, seem to twinkle with a crystalline delight.

The sixth line is in these words: “Keeping time, time, time, in a sort of Runic rhyme.” We observe that as “time” is here repeated three times, so “tinkle” was repeated three times in the third line. We must have observed, too, that it is “stars” of the fourth line that are said to “twinkle” in the fifth line. The two lines are as closely connected as grammatical construction and the expression of thought could make them. And the sixth line is an obvious continuation of the description. Analytically we say: 1. Keeping time in a rhyme. 2. Keeping time, time, in a rhyme. 3. Keeping time, time, time in a rhyme. 4. Keeping time, time, time in a sort of rhyme. 5. Keeping time, time, time in a sort of Runic rhyme.

Let us now recall the six lines together.

  1. Hear the sledges with the bells—silver bells—
  2. What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
  3. How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle in the icy air of night!
  4. While the stars that oversprinkle
  5. All the heavens, seem to twinkle with a crystalline delight;
  6. Keeping time, time, time, in a sort of Runic rhyme.

The seventh line is the continuation of the sixth. Keeping time to what? “To the tintinnabulation that so musically‌ wells.” 1. The tintinnabulation wells. 2. The tintinnabulation that wells. 3. The tintinnabulation that musically wells. 4. The tintinnabulation that so musically wells. 5. To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells. Wells from what? From the bells, bells—occurring altogether six times more. This makes the eighth line. But some pupils say at once, “I can never be sure in reciting the line to recall bells only seven times, no more or less.” These pupils will admit that they can be sure to say bells four times, as bells, bells, bells, bells. Then, of course, they can say bells three times more, making seven times altogether. Here, then, we have the seventh and eighth lines, as follows:

  1. To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
  2. From the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells—