At Shelley-s House At Lerici Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABCCD EEFGG HHIJJI KKLHHL MNOPPO QQRSSR TTUVVU WWHXXH YYZA2A2Z B2B2KC2D2E2 F2F2BG2G2B AAH2I2I2J2 YYK2VVK2 L2L2L2K2K2L2 L2L2M2N2N2M2 L2L2O2PPP2 Q2Q2R2FFR2 QQS2T2T2S2 L2L2U2JJU2 V2V2W2X2X2W2 YYBUUB Y2Y2Z2EEZ2

Maiden with English hair and eyesA
The colour of Italian skiesA
What seek you by this shoreB
I seek sir for the latest homeC
Where Shelley dwelt and o'er the foamC
Speeding returned no more ''D
-
Come then with me I seek it tooE
Are you his kith For strangely youE
Resemble him in mienF
No save it be that all are kinG
Who cherish the same thoughts withinG
And gaze on things unseen ''-
-
It should be easy sure to findH
Waves close in front woods close behindH
Green shutters whitewashed wallsI
A little space of rocky groundJ
Where climbs the wave and round and roundJ
The seagull curves and callsI
-
Lo there it stands A quiet spotK
Untenanted it seems forgotK
Like shrine from which the GodL
Hath vanished and but left behindH
A something in the air the windH
Recalling where he trodL
-
Upon this balcony how oftM
When waves were smooth and winds were softN
As now he must have stoodO
And dreamed of days when men should beP
Bondless as this unfettered seaP
And peaceful as that woodO
-
What would he find if came he nowQ
A phantom crown on kingly browQ
Veiled sceptre trembling throneR
Pulpits where threat and curse have ceasedS
And shrines whereat half sceptic priestS
Worships too oft aloneR
-
With muffled psalm and whispered hymnT
At secret dawn or twilight dimT
A pious remnant prayU
For their maimed rites indulgence pleadV
And half uncertain of their creedV
Explain their God awayU
-
Gone the conventions Shelley cursedW
The first are last the last are firstW
The lame the halt the blindH
Now in the seat of power alongX
With the far seeing and the strongX
Mould mandates for mankindH
-
No longer doth man's will decideY
And woman's feebler impulse guideY
He yields to her his mightZ
Duty hath grown an old world taleA2
And chaste Obedience rends her veilA2
For epicene delightZ
-
Where now do towering despots reignB2
Over lithe knee and servile brainB2
The scared the base the boughtK
Monarchs themselves now bend with aweC2
Before the kingliness of LawD2
The majesty of ThoughtE2
-
Yes Kings have gone or reign as slavesF2
Religion mumbles round our gravesF2
But shapes our lives no moreB
Tradition thrice spurned Sibyl burnsG2
The leaves mob Sovereignty spurnsG2
Contemptuous of her loreB
-
Fair Maiden with the sea blue eyesA
With whom beneath these sea blue skiesA
Shelley had loved to liveH2
Forgive me if his dream unbornI2
Then but now adult moves my scornI2
Would He too not forgiveJ2
-
For where both Crown and Cowl defiedY
Sue for the ruth they once deniedY
What would he find insteadK2
A fiercer despot fouler creedV
The Rule of Gold the rites of GreedV
And a bitterer cry for breadK2
-
Wake poet and retune your stringsL2
The earth now swarms with petty kingsL2
Seated on self made thronesL2
And altar tables richly spreadK2
Where Roguery consecrates the breadK2
And Opulence atonesL2
-
Here Shelley prayed that War might ceaseL2
From earth and Pentecostal PeaceL2
Descend with dovelike breathM2
Look round this bay each treeless gorgeN2
Each scarred ravine incessant forgeN2
The instruments of deathM2
-
From Salterbrand's unfreezing peaksL2
To sunny Manfredonia's creeksL2
Have alien satraps goneO2
But guarding Italy the FreeP
Her murderous mammoth monsters seeP
Come grimly wallowing onP2
-
Yes here He dwelt and dreamed and thereQ2
Gleams Porto Venere the fairQ2
The mockery of a nameR2
Where fervent Venus once was QueenF
Hot Mars now ravishes the sceneF
And fans a fiercer flameR2
-
Fair Maiden with the English browQ
Although from me who shortly nowQ
Must tread life's downward slopeS2
Illusions one by one departT2
Still foster in your virgin heartT2
The embryo of HopeS2
-
The hills remain the woods the wavesL2
And they alone are dupes or slavesL2
Who spurning Nature's breastU2
Too high would soar too deep would soundJ
And madden vainly round and roundJ
The orbit of unrestU2
-
Pity too lingers As I speakV2
The teardrops tremble on your cheekV2
Too silent to deceiveW2
And with assuaging hand you showX2
How tenderness still tempers woeX2
And none need singly grieveW2
-
Yes sweet it were with you for guideY
To float across that dimpling tideY
And on its farther shoreB
To prove if Venus still holds swayU
And wandering with you round the bayU
Tempt back one's youth once moreB
-
But child it is not Shelley's worldY2
Fancy's light sails had best be furledY2
Before they surge and swellZ2
What helm can steer the heart or whoE
Keep moored inspired by such as YouE
Heaven prosper you FarewellZ2

Alfred Austin



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