At Sea Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABBCBCC DEFEEGEGG HIHIIJIJJ KLKLLMNMM KOKOOCOCC PCPCCQCQQ OO OOOCOCCWhen the investing darkness growls | A |
And deep reverberates to deep | B |
When keyhole whines and chimney howls | A |
And all the roofs and windows weep | B |
Then through the doorless walls of sleep | B |
The still sealed ear and shuttered sight | C |
Phantoms of memory steal and creep | B |
The very ghosts of sound and light | C |
Dream visions and dream voices of a bygone night | C |
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I see again I hear again | D |
Where lightnings flash and house eaves drip | E |
A flying swirl of waves and rain | F |
That storm path between Sound and Rip | E |
I feel the swaying of the ship | E |
In every gust that rocks the trees | G |
And taste that brine upon my lip | E |
And smell the freshness of the breeze | G |
That sped us through the welter of those racing seas | G |
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I hear the menace of the call | H |
To rope and rivet wheel and mast | I |
In the swift onrush of the squall | H |
The challenge of the thundering blast | I |
To daring men as it sweeps past | I |
And in my dream I have no dread | J |
Rivet and rope are firm and fast | I |
The clear lights shining green and red | J |
The quiet eyes of sentry watching overhead | J |
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What epic battles pass unsung | K |
It was a war of gods befell | L |
On that wild night when we were young | K |
They rode like cavalry of hell | L |
The mighty winds the monstrous swell | L |
On their white horses fierce and fleet | M |
They stood at bay invincible | N |
Where pulsed beneath our sliding feet | M |
The faithful iron heart that never lost a beat | M |
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How the sharp sea spume lashed and stung | K |
How the salt sea wind tugged and tare | O |
And clawed and mauled us where we clung | K |
With panting breasts and streaming hair | O |
To our frail eyrie in mid air | O |
How we exulted in the fight | C |
With neither haste nor halt to dare | O |
Those Titans furies in their might | C |
Undaunted and unswerving in our insect flight | C |
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No lap of exquisite repose | P |
A mortar wherein souls are brayed | C |
An anvil ringing to the blows | P |
Whereby true men are shaped and made | C |
Divinely strong and unafraid | C |
Such gallant sailor men there be | Q |
Never unready or dismayed | C |
Though 't's the face of death they see | Q |
In cyclone fire and fog and white surf on the lee | Q |
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Not only in the sylvan bower | O |
On dreaming hill by sleeping mere | O |
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The holy place the sacred hour | O |
Beset by every form of fear | O |
Darkness ahead and danger near | O |
Sorely hard driven and hard prest | C |
But still unspent and of good cheer | O |
He finds them who can pass the test | C |
Who never winks an eye and never stays to rest | C |
Ada Cambridge
(1)
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