The Challenge Answered Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCB BBDB EFDC GHDH IBDB JKBK BBCB LBMB LCNC| So at length the word is uttered which the vain Gaul long hath muttered | A |
| 'Twixt his teeth by envy fluttered at another land being great | B |
| And the dogs of war are loos d and the carnagestream unsluic d | C |
| That the might of France abus d may torment the world like Fate | B |
| - | |
| O thou nation base besotted whose ambition cannons shotted | B |
| And huge mounds of corpses clotted with cold gore alone can sate | B |
| May the God of Battles shiver every arrow in thy quiver | D |
| And the nobly flowing river thou dost covet drown thy hate | B |
| - | |
| For 'tis writ on towering steeple if ye sow ill ye shall reap ill | E |
| And a stern offended people swarm from city hill and plain | F |
| And with lips ne'er known to palter swear by king and hearth and altar | D |
| Not to sheath the sword or falter till they flash it by the Seine | C |
| - | |
| See they come in dazzling masses from soft vales and frowning passes | G |
| Dense with blades as now the grass is that the summer sun doth shine | H |
| And proclaim with voice of thunder that French hordes athirst for plunder | D |
| Not one single rood shall sunder from their Fatherland and Rhine | H |
| - | |
| Swabian Saxon Frank and Hessian lo they muster form and press on | I |
| Pledged to teach the Gaul the lesson he ne'er learns but through the sword | B |
| That the gay light hearted glitter of the wicked wanton hitter | D |
| May be turned to wormwood bitter by the judgment of the Lord | B |
| - | |
| To their maids no longer fickle down whose cheeks the fond tears trickle | J |
| Leaving pruning hook and sickle yellow corn and purple grape | K |
| Do they vow as long as shielded behind swords by Germans wielded | B |
| That their soil shall ne'er be yielded to the tiger and the ape | K |
| - | |
| On then on ye souls undaunted let the flag of Right be flaunted | B |
| And your late roused wrath be haunted by the outrages of old | B |
| When for empty Gallic glory were your hearths made black and gory | C |
| And the lone sire's head turned hoary by the slaughter of his fold | B |
| - | |
| Nor with glorious defending to your ire be there an ending | L |
| But still onwards ever wending let your legions never halt | B |
| Till ye show to braggart Paris what at hand the edge of war is | M |
| How it desolates and harries and then strew its streets with salt | B |
| - | |
| For its lips are seared with lying and its crimes to God are crying | L |
| And the Earth oppressed is sighing Oh how long shall these things be | C |
| And a shout of exultation will go up from every nation | N |
| As your sword the World's salvation smites the insulter to his knee | C |
Alfred Austin
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