An April Fool Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD E EF GHGI JFJF KLKL MNMN ODPD QRQ ALAL SDTD DDDD UDUD VWVX YDYD EHEI ZDZD DRDR DA2D B2LB2L C2LC2L D2LD2 DL LI sallied afield when the bud first swells | A |
And the sun first slanteth hotly | B |
And I came on a yokel in cap and bells | A |
And a suit of saffron motley | B |
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He was squat on a bank where a self taught stream | C |
Fingering flint and pebble | D |
Was playing in tune to the yaffel's scream | C |
And the shake of the throstle's treble | D |
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Now who may you be '' I asked and where | E |
Do you look for your meals and pillow '' | - |
My roof '' he said is the spacious air | E |
And my curtain the waving willow | F |
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My meal is a shive of the miller's loaf | G |
And hunger the grace that blesses | H |
'Tis banquet enough for a village oaf | G |
With a handful of fresh green cresses | I |
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A plague on your feasts where the dish goes round | J |
Though I know where the truffles burrow | F |
And the plover's eggs may in fours be found | J |
In the folds of the pleated furrow | F |
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And my name O I am an April Fool | K |
So yclept in the hamlet yonder | L |
For when old and young are at work or school | K |
I sit on a stile and ponder | L |
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I gather the yellow weasel snout | M |
As I wander the woods at random | N |
Or I stoop stone still and tickle the trout | M |
And at times for a lark I land 'em | N |
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But I flick them back ere they gape and pant | O |
After gazing at gill and speckle | D |
For why should I keep what I do not want | P |
Who can fish without hook or heckle | D |
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Yes I am an April Fool confessed | Q |
And my pate grows not wise for scratching | R |
But I know where the kingfisher drills his nest | Q |
And the long tailed tits are hatching '' | - |
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Then he leaped to his feet and he shook his bells | A |
And they jangled all together | L |
As blithe as the chime that sinks and swells | A |
For the joy of a nuptial tether | L |
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And as they chimed in the covert near | S |
Where ripens the juicy whortle | D |
The rustling whisper reached my ear | T |
Of a loitering maiden's kirtle | D |
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Whereat he laughed I'm an April Fool | D |
But am jocund withal and jolly | D |
So long as I have this realm to rule | D |
And a lass to love my folly | D |
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Go and woo where the deftly fair parade | U |
The smiles of a fine court lady | D |
But I will cuddle my rustic maid | U |
In the pheasant drives husht and shady | D |
- | |
Her cheek is as creamy as milk in June | V |
And the winds nor chap nor warp it | W |
We dance with the blackbird to give the tune | V |
And with primroses for carpet | X |
- | |
Her quick flashing fingers knit the hose | Y |
For her little feet neat and nimble | D |
Her kiss is as sweet as a half shut rose | Y |
And her laugh like a silver cymbal | D |
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She never asks how my fortunes fare | E |
Nor wonders how full my purse is | H |
She sits on my knee and she strokes my hair | E |
And I tell her my wildwood verses | I |
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She has not a gem she can call her own | Z |
But I rest on a sheepfold hurdle | D |
And out of the daffodils newly blown | Z |
Entwine her a golden girdle | D |
- | |
And soon I shall have for my nut sweet girl | D |
When the May tree is adorning | R |
Its weather tanned skin with rows of pearl | D |
A new necklace night and morning | R |
- | |
When shortly we catch the cuckoo's call | D |
We shall clap our hands to hear him | A2 |
For let whom they may his gibes appal | D |
This April Fool don't fear him '' | - |
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Then a wind cloud hued like a ringdove's neck | B2 |
Made the rain run helter skelter | L |
The keen drops pattered on bank and beck | B2 |
And I crouched in the ditch for shelter | L |
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But he whistled his love and he waved his cap | C2 |
And the bells all rang together | L |
Just fancy '' he cried to care one rap | C2 |
For the whims of wind or weather | L |
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Through all the seasons I keep my youth | D2 |
Which is more than you town folk do sir | L |
Now which is the April Fool in sooth | D2 |
Do you think it is I or you sir '' | - |
- | |
Then the rain ceased slashing on branch and pool | D |
And swift came the sunshine after | L |
And the thrush and the yaffel screamed April Fool '' | - |
And the covert rang with laughter | L |
Alfred Austin
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