Metabole. - An Apostrophe To The Moon Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFA EGHIJKLMNOPQR STUVWLGX RYZZA2B2PC2D2H E2RZF2Z G2ZH2RZ I2RJ2K2 EL2VM2ZZ RN2O2P2Q2R2 ZRS2RT2U2V2W2Z X2B2ZZT2R2QY2O2ZZ ZY2Y2Y2RY2Y2ZZY2Y2Z ZY2Z2Y2ZRZZ2ZZRY2B2O 2Y2ZZ Y2ZY2RY2Y2RRNA3Y2HRB 3ZC3ZY2IZ RCZZ ZD3RKZ ZY2RE3ZY2ZHZY2 ZB2ZZF3X2L2Y2G3C2 ZZR Y2NY2ZZZ D3ZZH3Y2ZL2Y2ZY2L2ZZ ZZZZ Y2ZZZY2VZB2I3Y2RF2ZU J3Z Y2VL2ZK3ZJ2Z ZJ2ZY2L3R ZVJ2Y2J2 M3Y2N3ZRY2ZZ J2ZG3RZRZJ2Y2G3ZV ZY2VVJ2Y2Y2G3UG3 ZO3Y2Y2Y2Y2Y2Y2Y2P3Y 2Y2ZJ2G3ZJ2VZY2RY2Y2 J2Y2ZY2Y2Y2Y2Y2ZV Y2Y2ZZIY2Y2V ZZY2ZVZG3Y2 ZY2J2Y2Q3Y2VY2ZY2Y2Z J2Y2Z ZY2Y2J2ZZG3J2ZZZZRR3 ZZZY2Y2 G3J2ZVVIZY2ZY2RY2VZI ZVY2 UY2Y2Y2ZY2S3Y2Y2VRT3 R ZY2RVZZN3VY2ZZJ2Y2U3 ZY2ZG3 VY2J2 ZY2Y2Y2V VY2G3ZVY2G3Y2Y2RY2ZY 2ZZZ Y2ZRZY2ZVG3T3ZY2ZY2J 2 J2Y2Y2ZZ Y2Y2Y2Y2Y2Y2ZRY2ZY2G 3G3Y2Y2Z

O silvery moon fair mistress of the nightA
Thou mellow ever vaccilating orbB
How many eons of unmeasured timeC
Hast thou observant from thy astral poiseD
Thy ever changing station in the skiesE
Beheld the wastes of earth of air and spaceF
Ruling the waters and the sombre nightA
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Pale queen of night fair coquette of the skiesE
Thou who with fickle sweet inconstancyG
Receives the smile from the admiring sunH
And straight transmits it to the sordid earthI
How many cycles of the silent pastJ
Hast thou beheld the rise and fall of manK
His proud ascendency and swift declineL
His zenith and his pitiful decayM
E'er he emerged from out the dismal caveN
His habitation rude and primitiveO
E'er yet the forest trembled at his strokeP
E'er his indenting chisel cleaved the stonesQ
And framed the first crude human domicileR
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As time rolled on and human skill advancedS
By almost imperceptible degreesT
Of slow experimental tutorageU
Along a nobler more artistic planeV
He hewed the stones in form of ornamentW
Sculptured device of various designL
Embellishment of cunning symmetryG
Man's first attempt to scale the realms of artX
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Thou hast beheld him on his suppliant kneelR
Engaged in worship audible or muteY
Invoking thy protection and thy aidZ
Thy gracious favor and beatitudeZ
With arms outstretched in reverential aweA2
Propitiating thee with fervent prayerB2
For the remission of thy baleful strokeP
Thou hast beheld his superstitious fearC2
And heard his curses and his solemn prayersD2
As thy dark form eclipsed the smiling sunH
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Thou hast beheld him fashion and adornE2
The gorgeous altar and the totem poleR
With fervent zeal and blind simplicityZ
From base materials of wood or stoneF2
Carve out a God then kneel and worship itZ
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Thou too hast heard the slave whip's poignant crackG2
The sound of avarice and turpitudeZ
As hands unwilling plied their arduous taskH2
Creating monuments to iron willR
Human injustice greed and servitudeZ
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Thou hast beheld him shape the pyramidsI2
Heap up the mound and build the massive wallR
Create the castle and the towering spireJ2
The ponderous dome and stately edificeK2
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From thy observant orbit in the skiesE
Did'st thou behold that sacrilegious towerL2
Which reared its massive form on Babel's plainV
Built by misguided and presumptuous menM2
In vain and ineffectual attemptZ
To scale the heavens surreptitiouslyZ
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E'er the completion of the impious pileR
Thou mayest have heard with silent nonchalanceN2
That strange catastrophe of human speechO2
That dire confusion of the languagesP2
Confounding all the tongues and dialectsQ2
To unknown chaos of peculiar soundsR2
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Changing the conversation of the dayZ
To accents strange and unintelligibleR
Unlike to common and accepted termsS2
To tones mysterious and unnaturalR
Conglomerated forms of utteranceT2
Which bore no semblance to the human voiceU2
Some rent the air with unaccustomed wordsV2
Striving in desperation to converseW2
With ears which heard but could not understandZ
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Some cursed with oaths unknown to all but themX2
While some essayed to frame the words of prayerB2
Or to articulate the stern commandZ
And one in most supreme authorityZ
Declaimed a ponderous regal ordinanceT2
But heard a sea of unfamiliar soundsR2
Confused and desultory turbulence and dissonance of harsh discordant tonesQ
Instead of due attention and applauseY2
Nor were his words and usual forms of speechO2
Respected by the idle wondering craftZ
Which lately comprehended and obeyedZ
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Workmen addressed each other but conveyedZ
No sense of meaning in their jargoningsY2
Nor had cognizance from the stammered tonesY2
Answered in turn in verbal nothingnessY2
The crabbed cynic might no longer railR
Nor those of sober countenance discourseY2
In melancholy and foreboding strainsY2
Nor light and frivolous sons of levityZ
On others perpetrate the humorous jestZ
Fathers attempted to correct their sonsY2
Who listening with filial reverenceY2
Heard but unknown and strange garrulityZ
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Some shrank in terror as their ears discernedZ
Their own distorted efforts to converseY2
Some ran in aimless frenzy to and froZ2
Falling upon the earth with frantic criesY2
Some stood in gaping wonder nor perceivedZ
The dire calamity which bound them allR
In one unbroken chain of miseryZ
Some beat their breasts in paroxysmal woeZ2
Some wore the driveling look of idiocyZ
Some lost their reason and serenely smiledZ
Some stalked with features imperturbableR
Finding no tear nor vent for their distressY2
Some groaned some shrieked some wept in their despairB2
Relaxing all attempts at vocal speechO2
Some recognized the face but not the voiceY2
Of some familiar friend and grasped the handZ
Spoke with the eyes when words no longer servedZ
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Did'st thou behold that temple which aroseY2
On Mount Moriah's slope the proud resultZ
Of the endeavors of a noble raceY2
Whose tireless energy and wondrous skillR
In architecture and the various artsY2
Were famed throughout the world whose nimble handsY2
Carved out the pillar and the pedestalR
The column polished and cylindricalR
The slab and ornamented architraveN
From Parian marble of unblemished hueA3
With stately cedars from the sloping sidesY2
Of proud but long denuded LebanonH
Erected that superb and marvelous pileR
Whose wondrous grandeur and imposing formB3
Correct proportions and true symmetryZ
And perfect uniformity of shapeC3
Beauty of contour and embellishmentZ
Splendor of finish and magnificenceY2
Excelled the proudest edifice of earthI
A fitting tribute to the DeityZ
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Thou hast beheld the triumphs of his skillR
Touched by the desolating hand of timeC
Crumble disintegrate and pass awayZ
Resolved to pristine particles of dustZ
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His strongest castle bold and insolentZ
Of warlike aspect and defiant mienD3
With wall and rampart unassailableR
Impregnable to the assaults of manK
Surrender at the mold's insidious treadZ
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Thou hast beheldZ
His palace and his most exalted courtsY2
Bestrewn with fragments of the PeristyleR
The broken column slab and monolithE3
O'erhung with pendant moss and slimy moldZ
Its dismal haunts and gloomy aperturesY2
Become the habitation of the batZ
The hissing serpent and the scorpionH
The basking lizard dull and indolentZ
And forms of reptile foul and venomousY2
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The throne where ruled the king with iron swayZ
Is vacant as the empty wastes of airB2
Is ruled by desolation and decayZ
No more the sceptered voice in stern commandZ
Rings through its halls nor can the dazzling flashF3
Of the tiara and the diademX2
The ensign and insignia of powerL2
The emblazoned crest and jeweled coat of armsY2
Or proud escutcheon of illustrious nameG3
Excite with envy or inspire with fearC2
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The boisterous carousal and the soundZ
Of wassail mirth inebriate and loudZ
And midnight revelry is hushed and stillR
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Time shifts the scenesY2
The haughty prince and the most abject slaveN
Who cowered and trembled 'neath his austere glanceY2
The fawning and ignoble sycophantZ
The courtier and the basest serf have metZ
On equal terms beneath the silent dustZ
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From thy celestial 'minions thou hast seenD3
His proudest temples sink into decayZ
Grim desolation and desuetudeZ
The silent hush succeed the plaintive hymnH3
The anthem cease to swell in rhythmic praiseY2
Or vaulted dome re echo with the soundZ
Of pipe of organ harp and dulcimerL2
The voice of sacerdotal eloquenceY2
Become as silent as the unborn thoughtZ
The fragrant perfume of the frankincenseY2
The scent of swinging censor and of myrrhL2
Supplanted by foul odors of decayZ
The sacred flame extinguished and forgotZ
Its votaries and congregations fledZ
The forms who ministered and forms who kneltZ
The burnished altar and the hoary priestZ
Commingling their atoms in the dustZ
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Thou too hast heard the clash of hostile armsY2
The blast of trumpet and the martial treadZ
The neigh of charger anxious for the frayZ
The din and the confusion of the fightZ
The noise and turmoil of contending hostsY2
The crunch of breaking bones and shrieks of painV
The angry challenge and defiant tauntZ
The cries of rage and curses of despairB2
The dying groan and gnash of clench ed teethI3
The plea for mercy with uplifted armsY2
As through the bosom plunged the ruthless steelR
The clank of shackles and the captives groanF2
As marched the vanquished forth to servitudeZ
To ceaseless toil rewarded by the scourgeU
To stand within the slave marts and endureJ3
The taunts and bear the chains of slaveryZ
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Did'st thou look down with neutral radianceY2
On that incursion from the Scythian plainV
A surging multitude beyond the powerL2
Of mental computation and which seemedZ
A seething mass of spears and shapes of warK3
A sea of bellicose barbarityZ
O'erwhelming helpless and ill fated TyreJ2
With a resistless deluge of the swordZ
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Or when that vast and uncomputed hordeZ
Swept westward from the steppes of TartaryJ2
With stern Atilla riding at its headZ
Leaving in ruthless Mongol truculenceY2
Awake both red and blackened by the torchL3
The scourge perhaps of God perhaps of HellR
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Did'st thou not flinch when t'ward the Christian westZ
The fell invasion of the SaracenV
Headed its course with crimson scimitarJ2
Supplanting the mild precepts of the CrossY2
With those of lust of hate and bigotryJ2
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Did'st thou not weep when proud Atlantis sunkM3
Beneath the surging and engulfing wavesY2
The aftermath of Earth's most tragic shockN3
Or when the ark upon that greatest floodZ
Which from the black and pregnant heavens fellR
For forty days and forty weary nightsY2
Above the ruins of a deluged worldZ
Floated in safety with its living freightZ
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Did'st Thou look down in idle apathyJ2
When grim Vesuvius from his dormant restZ
Awoke in molten fury and o'ercameG3
With liquid flood and scoriaceous hailR
The sleeping cities which beneath him layZ
Interring with such fiery burialR
That neither remnant nor inhabitantZ
Escaped from that both grave and funeral pyreJ2
Nor vestige of their proud magnificenceY2
Rose from the scene with charred and blackened formG3
And rolling centuries in passing leftZ
But dim remembrance in the minds of menV
-
Did'st thou in age more ancient and remoteZ
Gaze from thy poise with cold complacencyY2
Upon the guilty cities of the plainV
Surcharged with lust and the extremes of sinV
Which Holy Writ avers when 'neath the showerJ2
Of well deserved combustion from the skiesY2
They sunk in conflagration with their viceY2
And perishing to ages yet to comeG3
Bequeathed a foul and blasted heritageU
An infamous and execrated nameG3
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Art thou to human anguish so inuredZ
That thou hast neither sentiment of griefO3
Nor sense of pity for terrestrial illsY2
Can agonizing and heart rending scenesY2
Relax thy obdurate and placid faceY2
To semblance of emotion Can man's woesY2
Excite thy tranquil immobilityY2
To the pathetic look of tendernessY2
Or touch thy bosom's calm indifferenceY2
With profuse throbs of sympathetic ruthP3
Can'st thou unmoved behold the widow's tearsY2
Or those of orphaned childish innocenceY2
Or those which wondering infant eyes have shedZ
On unresponsive breasts which nevermoreJ2
Throb with maternal warmth and suckle themG3
Can'st thou with cold unsympathizing lightZ
Illuminate the ruined maid's despairJ2
Without the echo of a lunar groanV
Hast thou no pang of sorrow or regretZ
For guilty man nor tear for his distressY2
Or are the tides within thy moist controlR
The copious weepings of thy mellow lidsY2
Thy sea of teardrops shed for human woesY2
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Did'st thou behold when that most favored starJ2
Transcending in refulgence all the orbsY2
Of boundless and bejewelled firmamentZ
With flash of overwhelming brilliancyY2
Plunged through the wondering heavens whose pale spheresY2
In contrast dimmed to insignificanceY2
And gliding through the twinkling realms of spaceY2
Burst with such splendor as the envious starsY2
Had never witnessed since the heavens stoodZ
Halting in glory o'er Judea's plainV
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Halted and burned in stellar reverenceY2
Above a fold where wrapped in swaddling clothesY2
A new born infant in a manger layZ
In humble contrast to the throne of lightZ
He left to tread the thorny paths of earthI
In undefiled and stainless innocenceY2
Which earth with all her foul iniquitiesY2
Might never tarnish nor pollute with sinV
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Perhaps upon that sage triumvirateZ
Which journeyed from the famed and affluent EastZ
In regal pomp and rich munificenceY2
To lay their costly presents at His feetZ
And worship at that new born infant's shrineV
Thou shed'st thy mellow rays and lit the wayZ
O'er deserts to the hills of BethlehemG3
Dividing honors with that prince of starsY2
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Wert thou a witness on that selfsame nightZ
When humble shepherds on Judea's hillsY2
Watching their flocks with all attentive careJ2
Beheld unwonted grandeur in the skiesY2
The ordinary stars were glitteringQ3
In unaccustomed glory and the orbsY2
Which twinkle in that pale celestial trainV
Which cleaves in twain the ambient universeY2
Had changed their milky hue to that of goldZ
But all the forms of stellar brilliancyY2
Made way for that most bright and luminousY2
Which glowed with holy radiance which mightZ
Not emanate from aught but sacred starJ2
Dispensing such serene magnificenceY2
That e'en the admiring heavens stood abashedZ
-
At such a sightZ
Though savoring more of blessing than of curseY2
Small marvel 'twas their unenlightened mindsY2
Were seized with sudden and peculiar fearJ2
So that their trembling knees together smoteZ
And as they stoodZ
In awestruck trepidation and alarmG3
The heavens as the bifurcated doorJ2
Of some familiar hospitable tentZ
Parted their gorgeous curtains and disclosedZ
A multitude of the celestial hostZ
Numerous beyond all efforts to computeZ
Solemn of countenance yet beautifulR
Beyond the comprehension of the eyeR3
Surging in such immaculate arrayZ
Of various raiment as the stainless whiteZ
Of snows which countless centuries have placedZ
On rugged Ararat's tremendous heightsY2
Were blended in an essenceY2
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Then for a moment's timeG3
The heavens were silent as those forms were fairJ2
Then instantly throughout the realms of lightZ
Was heard a crash in sacred unisonV
As all the trumpets and the harps of heavenV
And all the varied instruments of earthI
Had burst in one grand detonating chordZ
Now rose the quavering vibratory tonesY2
Of flageolet and solitary reedZ
Now as a blending of all instrumentsY2
In echoing harmonics sweet and lowR
In soft reverberating resonanceY2
The voice of cornet and sonorous hornV
Blent with the warbling accents of the fluteZ
And chime of mellow bells unknown to earthI
P an of dulcimer and harpsichordZ
In combination of concordant toneV
Melting the stars with dulcet symphonyY2
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But sweeter than those instruments of joyU
Tuned by angelic fingers rose the strainsY2
Of vocal concord and mellifluenceY2
As swelled in chorus those seraphic throatsY2
In falling cadence and ecstatic flightZ
Surpassing heaven's grandest melodyY2
In all that appertains to choral songS3
The acme of celestial harmonyY2
Which angel ears discerned with glad surpriseY2
But sweeter than that song the glad refrainV
Wafted from angel tongues innumerableR
To earth and the inhabitants thereofT3
Peace Peace on Earth the Deity's Good WillR
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Didst thou not shrink when on Golgotha's crestZ
Three crosses as three grizzly spectres roseY2
Spreading their ghastly arms protestinglyR
In silent malediction o'er the sceneV
And even nature paused and stood aghastZ
In shuddering horror at the awful sightZ
Relaxing with the trembling earthquake shockN3
Her sympathetic tensionV
And when the lightning rent the canopyY2
Of black sepulchral clouds which like a shroudZ
Enveloped earth on that terrific nightZ
They lit a face compassionate and pureJ2
E'en from beneath the cruel crown of thornsY2
Glancing in pity kindled not with wrathU3
At his tormentors those who loved him notZ
The multitude which surged about the crossY2
Cursing with accents vile and crying loudZ
Crucify Him Crucify HimG3
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Rejected and despised of menV
Earth which hath ever slain her noblest sonsY2
Slays also her RedeemerJ2
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Creation is but systematized decayZ
And Change is blazoned on the very skiesY2
As in ephemeral telluric scenesY2
And through the whole cosmogony of worldsY2
Is written and rewrittenV
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Thou who hast seen the stately mastodonV
Roam at his will o'er earth's prolific plainsY2
And the unwieldy megatheriumG3
Dragging his cumbrous disproportioned weightZ
Through quaternary marsh and stagnant fenV
Or watched the ichthyosaurus plow the seasY2
Churning the waters till the glistening foamG3
Rode on the greenish undulating wavesY2
And huge saurian and reptilian shapesY2
Amphibious and pelagic swim and crawlR
Cleaving the waters with tremendous strokesY2
Writhing with foul contortions in disportZ
Splashing and laving in the thermal seasY2
Of the remote and prehistoric pastZ
Thou who hast seen them fail and pass awayZ
Shalt also shine when man has disappearedZ
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Thou who hast seen the rank luxurianceY2
Of vegetation flourish and decayZ
Vanish and pass away insensiblyR
Perish from off the earth which nourished itZ
And time supplant its rich exuberanceY2
With arid wastes of bleak sterilityZ
Wilt thou look down in silent unconcernV
When countless eons of denuding timeG3
Have rendered earth as barren as thyselfT3
Bereft of verdure's last habilimentZ
When men with all their passions and desiresY2
Their strange combines of evil and of goodZ
Their proud achievements and exalted aimsY2
Have passed away foreverJ2
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The universe is but a sepulcherJ2
For worlds defunct as earth for living formsY2
And thou O Moon who hast surveyed all thisY2
Thyself shalt be consumed with fervent heatZ
For e'en the firmament shall pass awayZ
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Supreme IntelligenceY2
Thou who createst worlds and satellitesY2
And Who canst estimate the universeY2
Weighing the heavens in Thy balancesY2
Who hast ordained the laws of cosmic spaceY2
To guide aright the planetary spheresY2
Thou Ruler of the infinite and greatZ
Alike of vast and infinitesimalR
Thou fundamental cause of all that isY2
In process of creation and decayZ
In the mutation and the ravagesY2
Sequent of constant lapse and flight of timeG3
Reveal Thy laws that we may follow themG3
Help us to recognize in all Thy worksY2
Whether of atom or stupendous massY2
The hand of DeityZ

Alfred Castner King



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