In Utrumque Paratus Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAC DEDEFGF HBHBIJIJKLMLNLNNLOPO Q RSRRSTUTU V VIWLWLXUXUTJCJYZYZA2 B2A2B2 C2B BD2E2D2E2 F2G2F2H2E2I2E2E2I2GI 2GI2J2K2J2K2 L2M2 L2 I2N2I2I2N2 UO2UUO2C CP2Q2Q2Q2P2R2S2R2R2S 2'Then hey for boot and horse lad | A |
And round the world away | B |
Young blood will have its course lad | A |
And every dog his day ' C Kingsley | C |
- | |
There's a formula which the west country clowns | D |
Once used ere their blows fell thick | E |
At the fairs on the Devon and Cornwall downs | D |
In their bouts with the single stick | E |
You may read a moral not far amiss | F |
If you care to moralize | G |
In the crossing guard where the ash plants kiss | F |
To the words 'God spare our eyes ' | - |
- | |
No game was ever yet worth a rap | H |
For a rational man to play | B |
Into which no accident no mishap | H |
Could possibly find its way | B |
If you hold the willow a shooter from Wills | I |
May transform you into a hopper | J |
And the football meadow is rife with spills | I |
If you feel disposed for a cropper | J |
In a rattling gallop with hound and horse | K |
You may chance to reverse the medal | L |
On the sward with the saddle your loins across | M |
And your hunter's loins on the saddle | L |
In the stubbles you'll find it hard to frame | N |
A remonstrance firm yet civil | L |
When oft as 'our mutual friend' takes aim | N |
Long odds may be laid on the rising game | N |
And against your gaiters level | L |
There's danger even where fish are caught | O |
To those who a wetting fear | P |
For what's worth having must ay be bought | O |
And sport's like life and life's like sport | Q |
'It ain't all skittles and beer ' | - |
- | |
The honey bag lies close to the sting | R |
The rose is fenced by the thorn | S |
Shall we leave to others their gathering | R |
And turn from clustering fruits that cling | R |
To the garden wall in scorn | S |
Albeit those purple grapes hang high | T |
Like the fox in the ancient tale | U |
Let us pause and try ere we pass them by | T |
Though we like the fox may fail | U |
- | |
All hurry is worse than useless think | V |
On the adage ' 'Tis pace that kills ' | - |
Shun bad tobacco avoid strong drink | V |
Abstain from Holloway's pills | I |
Wear woollen socks they're the best you'll find | W |
Beware how you leave off flannel | L |
And whatever you do don't change your mind | W |
When once you have picked your panel | L |
With a bank of cloud in the south south east | X |
Stand ready to shorten sail | U |
Fight shy of a corporation feast | X |
Don't trust to a martingale | U |
Keep your powder dry and shut one eye | T |
Not both when you touch your trigger | J |
Don't stop with your head too frequently | C |
This advice ain't meant for a nigger | J |
Look before you leap if you like but if | Y |
You mean leaping don't look long | Z |
Or the weakest place will soon grow stiff | Y |
And the strongest doubly strong | Z |
As far as you can to every man | A2 |
Let your aid be freely given | B2 |
And hit out straight 'tis your shortest plan | A2 |
When against the ropes you're driven | B2 |
- | |
Mere pluck though not in the least sublime | C2 |
Is wiser than blank dismay | B |
Since 'No sparrow can fall before its time ' | - |
And we're valued higher than they | B |
So hope for the best and leave the rest | D2 |
In charge of a stronger hand | E2 |
Like the honest boors in the far off west | D2 |
With the formula terse and grand | E2 |
- | |
They were men for the most part rough and rude | F2 |
Dull and illiterate | G2 |
But they nursed no quarrel they cherished no feud | F2 |
They were strangers to spite and hate | H2 |
In a kindly spirit they took their stand | E2 |
That brothers and sons might learn | I2 |
How a man should uphold the sports of his land | E2 |
And strike his best with a strong right hand | E2 |
And take his strokes in return | I2 |
' 'Twas a barbarous practice ' the Quaker cries | G |
' 'Tis a thing of the past thank heaven' | I2 |
Keep your thanks till the combative instinct dies | G |
With the taint of the olden leaven | I2 |
Yes the times are changed for better or worse | J2 |
The prayer that no harm befall | K2 |
Has given its place to a drunken curse | J2 |
And the manly game to a brawl | K2 |
- | |
Our burdens are heavy our natures weak | L2 |
Some pastime devoid of harm | M2 |
May we look for 'Puritan elder speak ' | - |
'Yea friend peradventure thou mayest seek | L2 |
Recreation singing a psalm ' | - |
If I did your visage so grim and stern | I2 |
Would relax in a ghastly smile | N2 |
For of music I never one note could learn | I2 |
And my feeble minstrelsy would turn | I2 |
Your chant to discord vile | N2 |
- | |
Tho' the Philistine's mail could naught avail | U |
Nor the spear like a weaver's beam | O2 |
There are episodes yet in the Psalmist's tale | U |
To obliterate which his poems fail | U |
Which his exploits fail to redeem | O2 |
Can the Hittite's wrongs forgotten be | C |
Does HE warble 'Non nobis Domine ' | - |
With his monarch in blissful concert free | C |
From all malice to flesh inherent | P2 |
Zeruiah's offspring who served so well | Q2 |
Yet between the horns of the altar fell | Q2 |
Does HIS voice the 'Quid gloriaris' swell | Q2 |
Or the 'Quare fremuerunt' | P2 |
It may well be thus where DAVID sings | R2 |
And Uriah joins in the chorus | S2 |
But while earth to earthy matter clings | R2 |
Neither you nor the bravest of Judah's kings | R2 |
As a pattern can stand before us | S2 |
Adam Lindsay Gordon
(1)
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