Hell's Gate Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDDEEFFGG HHIIJJKK LLBAAAMMNNOPQQRREEOP SSTT LLUUVVJJWWXXYYHHLLNN ZZXXA2A2B2TC2C2D2D2G GDDE2E2F2F2FF GGG2G2H2H2LL I2I2JJPPUUJ2J2| Onward led the road again | A |
| Through the sad uncoloured plain | B |
| Under twilight brooding dim | C |
| And along the utmost rim | C |
| Wall and rampart risen to sight | D |
| Cast a shadow not of night | D |
| And beyond them seemed to glow | E |
| Bonfires lighted long ago | E |
| And my dark conductor broke | F |
| Silence at my side and spoke | F |
| Saying You conjecture well | G |
| Yonder is the gate of hell | G |
| - | |
| Ill as yet the eye could see | H |
| The eternal masonry | H |
| But beneath it on the dark | I |
| To and fro there stirred a spark | I |
| And again the sombre guide | J |
| Knew my question and replied | J |
| At hell gate the damned in turn | K |
| Pace for sentinel and burn | K |
| - | |
| Dully at the leaden sky | L |
| Staring and with idle eye | L |
| Measuring the listless plain | B |
| I began to think again | A |
| Many things I thought of then | A |
| Battle and the loves of men | A |
| Cities entered oceans crossed | M |
| Knowledge gained and virtue lost | M |
| Cureless folly done and said | N |
| And the lovely way that led | N |
| To the slimepit and the mire | O |
| And the everlasting fire | P |
| And against a smoulder dun | Q |
| And a dawn without a sun | Q |
| Did the nearing bastion loom | R |
| And across the gate of gloom | R |
| Still one saw the sentry go | E |
| Trim and burning to and fro | E |
| One for women to admire | O |
| In his finery of fire | P |
| Something as I watched him pace | S |
| Minded me of time and place | S |
| Soldiers of another corps | T |
| And a sentry known before | T |
| - | |
| Ever darker hell on high | L |
| Reared its strength upon the sky | L |
| And our football on the track | U |
| Fetched the daunting echo back | U |
| But the soldier pacing still | V |
| The insuperable sill | V |
| Nursing his tormented pride | J |
| Turned his head to neither side | J |
| Sunk into himself apart | W |
| And the hell fire of his heart | W |
| But against our entering in | X |
| From the drawbridge Death and Sin | X |
| Rose to render key and sword | Y |
| To their father and their lord | Y |
| And the portress foul to see | H |
| Lifted up her eyes on me | H |
| Smiling and I made reply | L |
| Met again my lass said I | L |
| Then the sentry turned his head | N |
| Looked and knew me and was Ned | N |
| - | |
| Once he looked and halted straight | Z |
| Set his back against the gate | Z |
| Caught his musket to his chin | X |
| While the hive of hell within | X |
| Sent abroad a seething hum | A2 |
| As of towns whose king is come | A2 |
| Leading conquest home from far | B2 |
| And the captives of his war | T |
| And the car of triumph waits | C2 |
| And they open wide the gates | C2 |
| But across the entry barred | D2 |
| Straddled the revolted guard | D2 |
| Weaponed and accoutred well | G |
| From the arsenals of hell | G |
| And beside him sick and white | D |
| Sin to left and Death to right | D |
| Turned a countenance of fear | E2 |
| On the flaming mutineer | E2 |
| Over us the darkness bowed | F2 |
| And the anger in the cloud | F2 |
| Clenched the lightning for the stroke | F |
| But the traitor musket spoke | F |
| - | |
| And the hollowness of hell | G |
| Sounded as its master fell | G |
| And the mourning echo rolled | G2 |
| Ruin through his kingdom old | G2 |
| Tyranny and terror flown | H2 |
| Left a pair of friends alone | H2 |
| And beneath the nether sky | L |
| All that stirred was he and I | L |
| - | |
| Silent nothing found to say | I2 |
| We began the backward way | I2 |
| And the ebbing luster died | J |
| From the soldier at my side | J |
| As in all his spruce attire | P |
| Failed the everlasting fire | P |
| Midmost of the homeward track | U |
| Once we listened and looked back | U |
| But the city dusk and mute | J2 |
| Slept and there was no pursuit | J2 |
Alfred Edward Housman
(2)
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About Hell's Gate
Hell's Gate is a poem by Alfred Edward Housman. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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