By Flood And Field 2 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCD EFEFCGCGHCHICHC JFJFKLKLCMCMNON PFP PPPPOGOGPGP QPQPRPRPSTSTUVUW PXPXPYPPYZOZOThey have saddled a hundred milk white steeds | A |
They have bridled a hundred black Old Ballad | B |
'He turned in his saddle now follow who dare | C |
I ride for my country quoth ' Lawrence | D |
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I REMEMBER the lowering wintry morn | E |
And the mist on the Cotswold hills | F |
Where I once heard the blast of the huntsman's horn | E |
Not far from the seven rills | F |
Jack Esdale was there and Hugh St Clair | C |
Bob Chapman and Andrew Kerr | G |
And big George Griffiths on Devil May Care | C |
And black Tom Oliver | G |
And one who rode on a dark brown steed | H |
Clean jointed sinewy spare | C |
With the lean game head of the Blacklock breed | H |
And the resolute eye that loves the lead | I |
And the quarters massive and square | C |
A tower of strength with a promise of speed | H |
There was Celtic blood in the pair | C |
- | |
I remember how merry a start we got | J |
When the red fox broke from the gorse | F |
In a country so deep with a scent so hot | J |
That the hound could outpace the horse | F |
I remember how few in the front rank show'd | K |
How endless appeared the tail | L |
On the brown hill side where we cross'd the road | K |
And headed towards the vale | L |
The dark brown steed on the left was there | C |
On the right was a dappled grey | M |
And between the pair on a chestnut mare | C |
The duffer who writes this lay | M |
What business had 'this child' there to ride | N |
But little or none at all | O |
Yet I held my own for a while in 'the pride | N |
That goeth before a fall ' | - |
Though rashness can hope for but one result | P |
We are heedless when fate draws nigh us | F |
And the maxim holds good 'Quem perdere vult | P |
Deus dementat prius ' | - |
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The right hand man to the left hand said | P |
As down in the vale we went | P |
'Harden your heart like a millstone Ned | P |
And set your face as flint | P |
Solid and tall is the rasping wall | O |
That stretches before us yonder | G |
You must have it at speed or not at all | O |
'Twere better to halt than to ponder | G |
For the stream runs wide on the take off side | P |
And washes the clay bank under | G |
Here goes for a pull 'tis a madman's ride | P |
And a broken neck if you blunder ' | - |
- | |
No word in reply his comrade spoke | Q |
Nor waver'd nor once look'd round | P |
But I saw him shorten his horse's stroke | Q |
As we splash'd through the marshy ground | P |
I remember the laugh that all the while | R |
On his quiet features play'd | P |
So he rode to his death with that careless smile | R |
In the van of the 'Light Brigade' | P |
So stricken by Russian grape the cheer | S |
Rang out while he toppled back | T |
From the shattered lungs as merry and clear | S |
As it did when it roused the pack | T |
Let never a tear his memory stain | U |
Give his ashes never a sigh | V |
One of many who perished Not in vain | U |
As a type of our chivalry | W |
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I remember one thrust he gave to his hat | P |
And two to the flanks of the brown | X |
And still as a statue of old he sat | P |
And he shot to the front hands down | X |
I remember the snort and the stag like bound | P |
Of the steed six lengths to the fore | Y |
And the laugh of the rider while landing sound | P |
He turned in his saddle and glanced around | P |
I remember but little more | Y |
Save a bird's eye gleam of the dashing stream | Z |
A jarring thud on the wall | O |
A shock and the blank of a nightmare's dream | Z |
I was down with a stunning fall | O |
Adam Lindsay Gordon
(1)
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