Part I: Visions In The Smoke Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCBCD EFEEFGHGH IJKJLMLM NONOPQPR STSTUTUT BBBVBBBBB DWDWXYXYZA2ZA2 B2C2 RBRB D2OD2ORBRB E2DE2DBF2BF2 BYBYG2YG2Y XBXBH2HH2H PYPYYC2YC2 I2HI2HJ2K2J2K2 L2YL2YYM2YM2 E2YE2YDHDN2 BBDBBBDWO2WO2P2Q2P2Q 2BR2DR2BRBRS2XS2XT2Y T2YRest and be thankful On the verge | A |
Of the tall cliff rugged and grey | B |
But whose granite base the breakers surge | A |
And shiver their frothy spray | B |
Outstretched I gaze on the eddying wreath | C |
That gathers and flits away | B |
With the surf beneath and between my teeth | C |
The stem of the 'ancient clay' | D |
- | |
With the anodyne cloud on my listless eyes | E |
With its spell on my dreamy brain | F |
As I watch the circling vapours rise | E |
From the brown bowl up to the sullen skies | E |
My vision becomes more plain | F |
Till a dim kaleidoscope succeeds | G |
Through the smoke rack drifting and veering | H |
Like ghostly riders on phantom steeds | G |
To a shadowy goal careering | H |
- | |
In their own generation the wise may sneer | I |
They hold our sports in derision | J |
Perchance to sophist or sage or seer | K |
Were allotted a graver vision | J |
Yet if man of all the Creator plann'd | L |
His noblest work is reckoned | M |
Of the works of His hand by sea or by land | L |
The horse may at least rank second | M |
- | |
Did they quail those steeds of the squadrons light | N |
Did they flinch from the battle's roar | O |
When they burst on the guns of the Muscovite | N |
By the echoing Black Sea shore | O |
On on to the cannon's mouth they stride | P |
With never a swerve nor a shy | Q |
Oh the minutes of yonder maddening ride | P |
Long years of pleasure outvie | R |
- | |
No slave but a comrade staunch in this | S |
Is the horse for he takes his share | T |
Not in peril alone but in feverish bliss | S |
And in longing to do and dare | T |
Where bullets whistle and round shot whiz | U |
Hoofs trample and blades flash bare | T |
God send me an ending as fair as his | U |
Who died in his stirrups there | T |
- | |
The wind has slumbered throughout the day | B |
Now a fitful gust springs over the bay | B |
My wandering thoughts no longer stray | B |
I'll fix my overcoat buttons | V |
Secure my old hat as best I may | B |
And a shocking bad one it is by the way | B |
Blow a denser cloud from my stunted clay | B |
And then friend Bell as the Frenchmen say | B |
We'll 'go back again to our muttons' | B |
- | |
There's a lull in the tumult on yonder hill | D |
And the clamour has grown less loud | W |
Though the Babel of tongues is never still | D |
With the presence of such a crowd | W |
The bell has rung With their riders up | X |
At the starting post they muster | Y |
The racers stripp'd for the 'Melbourne Cup' | X |
All gloss and polish and lustre | Y |
And the course is seen with its emerald sheen | Z |
By the bright spring tide renew'd | A2 |
Like a ribbon of green stretched out between | Z |
The ranks of the multitude | A2 |
- | |
The flag is lowered 'They're off ' 'They come ' | - |
The squadron is sweeping on | B2 |
A sway in the crowd a murmuring hum | C2 |
'They're here ' 'They're past ' 'They're gone ' | - |
They came with the rush of the southern surf | R |
On the bar of the storm girt bay | B |
And like muffled drums on the sounding turf | R |
Their hoof strokes echo away | B |
- | |
The rose and black draws clear of the ruck | D2 |
And the murmur swells to a roar | O |
As the brave old colours that never were struck | D2 |
Are seen with the lead once more | O |
Though the feathery ferns and grasses wave | R |
O'er the sod where Lantern sleeps | B |
Though the turf is green on Fisherman's grave | R |
The stable its prestige keeps | B |
- | |
Six lengths in front she scours along | E2 |
She's bringing the field to trouble | D |
She's tailing them off she's running strong | E2 |
She shakes her head and pulls double | D |
Now Minstrel falters and Exile flags | B |
The Barb finds the pace too hot | F2 |
And Toryboy loiters and Playboy lags | B |
And the bolt of Ben Bolt is shot | F2 |
- | |
That she never may be caught this day | B |
Is the worst that the public wish her | Y |
She won't be caught she comes right away | B |
Hurrah for Seagull and Fisher | Y |
See Strop falls back though his reins are slack | G2 |
Sultana begins to tire | Y |
And the top weight tells on the Sydney crack | G2 |
And the pace on 'the Gippsland flyer' | Y |
- | |
The rowels as round the turn they sweep | X |
Just graze Tim Whiffler's flanks | B |
Like the hunted deer that flies through the sheep | X |
He strides through the beaten ranks | B |
Daughter of Omen prove your birth | H2 |
The colt will take lots of choking | H |
The hot breath steams at your saddle girth | H2 |
From his scarlet nostril smoking | H |
- | |
The shouts of the Ring for a space subside | P |
And slackens the bookmaker's roar | Y |
Now Davis rally now Carter ride | P |
As man never rode before | Y |
When Sparrowhawk's backers cease to cheer | Y |
When Yattendon's friends are dumb | C2 |
When hushed is the clamour for Volunteer | Y |
Alone in the race they come | C2 |
- | |
They're neck and neck they're head and head | I2 |
They're stroke for stroke in the running | H |
The whalebone whistles the steel is red | I2 |
No shirking as yet nor shunning | H |
One effort Seagull the blood you boast | J2 |
Should struggle when nerves are strained | K2 |
With a rush on the post by a neck at the most | J2 |
The verdict for Tim is gained | K2 |
- | |
Tim Whiffler wins Is blood alone | L2 |
The sine qua non for a flyer | Y |
The breed of his dam is a myth unknown | L2 |
And we've doubts respecting his sire | Y |
Yet few if any those proud names are | Y |
On the pages of peerage or stud | M2 |
In whose 'scutcheon lurks no sinister bar | Y |
No taint of the base black blood | M2 |
- | |
Aye Shorthouse laugh laugh loud and long | E2 |
For pedigree you're a sticker | Y |
You may be right I may be wrong | E2 |
Wiseacres both Let's liquor | Y |
Our common descent we may each recall | D |
To a lady of old caught tripping | H |
The fair one in fig leaves who d d us all | D |
For a bite at a golden pippin | N2 |
- | |
When first on this rocky ledge I lay | B |
There was scarce a ripple in yonder bay | B |
The air was serenely still | D |
Each column that sailed from my swarthy clay | B |
Hung loitering long ere it passed away | B |
Though the skies wore a tinge of leaden grey | B |
And the atmosphere was chill | D |
But the red sun sank to his evening shroud | W |
Where the western billows are roll'd | O2 |
Behind a curtain of sable cloud | W |
With a fringe of scarlet and gold | O2 |
There's a misty glare in the yellow moon | P2 |
And the drift is scudding fast | Q2 |
There'll be storm and rattle and tempest soon | P2 |
When the heavens are overcast | Q2 |
The neutral tint of the sullen sea | B |
Is fleck'd with the snowy foam | R2 |
And the distant gale sighs drearilie | D |
As the wanderer sighs for his home | R2 |
The white sea horses toss their manes | B |
On the bar of the southern reef | R |
And the breakers moan and by Jove it rains | B |
I thought I should come to grief | R |
Though it can't well damage my shabby hat | S2 |
Though my coat looks best when it's damp | X |
Since the shaking I got no matter where at | S2 |
I've a mortal dread of the cramp | X |
My matches are wet my pipe's put out | T2 |
And the wind blows colder and stronger | Y |
I'll be stiff and sore and sorry no doubt | T2 |
If I lie here any longer | Y |
Adam Lindsay Gordon
(1)
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