Geraint And Enid Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFG HIJKILMNOJPQRSTUVQUQ WPXQYQZA2B2C2BD2BKE2 F2G2H2I2C2J2K2L2L2JQ QM2N2O2N2L2L2I L2L2N2JL2 QL2N2L2I P2L2JQL2Q2 R2JL2L2S2F2R2L2QQF2Q BT2FJQL2 N2L2L2U2BV2QN2L2S2L2 BL2L2W2N2QL2L2X2L2L2 Y2S Q L2L2QBZ2L2A3L2 F2 N2 L2QB3 N2L2L2JC3L2 L2D3Q2F2B3L2VL2A2BL2 FBBB3L2BQN2B3O2BL2L2 Q2L2 B3C2

O purblind race of miserable menA
How many among us at this very hourB
Do forge a life long trouble for ourselvesC
By taking true for false or false for trueD
Here through the feeble twilight of this worldE
Groping how many until we pass and reachF
That other where we see as we are seenG
-
So fared it with Geraint who issuing forthH
That morning when they both had got to horseI
Perhaps because he loved her passionatelyJ
And felt that tempest brooding round his heartK
Which if he spoke at all would break perforceI
Upon a head so dear in thunder saidL
'Not at my side I charge thee ride beforeM
Ever a good way on before and thisN
I charge thee on thy duty as a wifeO
Whatever happens not to speak to meJ
No not a word ' and Enid was aghastP
And forth they rode but scarce three paces onQ
When crying out 'Effeminate as I amR
I will not fight my way with gilded armsS
All shall be iron ' he loosed a mighty purseT
Hung at his belt and hurled it toward the squireU
So the last sight that Enid had of homeV
Was all the marble threshold flashing strownQ
With gold and scattered coinage and the squireU
Chafing his shoulder then he cried againQ
'To the wilds ' and Enid leading down the tracksW
Through which he bad her lead him on they pastP
The marches and by bandit haunted holdsX
Gray swamps and pools waste places of the hernQ
And wildernesses perilous paths they rodeY
Round was their pace at first but slackened soonQ
A stranger meeting them had surely thoughtZ
They rode so slowly and they looked so paleA2
That each had suffered some exceeding wrongB2
For he was ever saying to himselfC2
'O I that wasted time to tend upon herB
To compass her with sweet observancesD2
To dress her beautifully and keep her true'B
And there he broke the sentence in his heartK
Abruptly as a man upon his tongueE2
May break it when his passion masters himF2
And she was ever praying the sweet heavensG2
To save her dear lord whole from any woundH2
And ever in her mind she cast aboutI2
For that unnoticed failing in herselfC2
Which made him look so cloudy and so coldJ2
Till the great plover's human whistle amazedK2
Her heart and glancing round the waste she fearedL2
In ever wavering brake an ambuscadeL2
Then thought again 'If there be such in meJ
I might amend it by the grace of HeavenQ
If he would only speak and tell me of it '-
-
But when the fourth part of the day was goneQ
Then Enid was aware of three tall knightsM2
On horseback wholly armed behind a rockN2
In shadow waiting for them caitiffs allO2
And heard one crying to his fellow 'LookN2
Here comes a laggard hanging down his headL2
Who seems no bolder than a beaten houndL2
Come we will slay him and will have his horseI
And armour and his damsel shall be ours '-
-
Then Enid pondered in her heart and saidL2
'I will go back a little to my lordL2
And I will tell him all their caitiff talkN2
For be he wroth even to slaying meJ
Far liefer by his dear hand had I dieL2
Than that my lord should suffer loss or shame '-
-
Then she went back some paces of returnQ
Met his full frown timidly firm and saidL2
'My lord I saw three bandits by the rockN2
Waiting to fall on you and heard them boastL2
That they would slay you and possess your horseI
And armour and your damsel should be theirs '-
-
He made a wrathful answer 'Did I wishP2
Your warning or your silence one commandL2
I laid upon you not to speak to meJ
And thus ye keep it Well then look for nowQ
Whether ye wish me victory or defeatL2
Long for my life or hunger for my deathQ2
Yourself shall see my vigour is not lost '-
-
Then Enid waited pale and sorrowfulR2
And down upon him bare the bandit threeJ
And at the midmost charging Prince GeraintL2
Drave the long spear a cubit through his breastL2
And out beyond and then against his braceS2
Of comrades each of whom had broken on himF2
A lance that splintered like an icicleR2
Swung from his brand a windy buffet outL2
Once twice to right to left and stunned the twainQ
Or slew them and dismounting like a manQ
That skins the wild beast after slaying himF2
Stript from the three dead wolves of woman bornQ
The three gay suits of armour which they woreB
And let the bodies lie but bound the suitsT2
Of armour on their horses each on eachF
And tied the bridle reins of all the threeJ
Together and said to her 'Drive them onQ
Before you ' and she drove them through the wasteL2
-
He followed nearer ruth began to workN2
Against his anger in him while he watchedL2
The being he loved best in all the worldL2
With difficulty in mild obedienceU2
Driving them on he fain had spoken to herB
And loosed in words of sudden fire the wrathV2
And smouldered wrong that burnt him all withinQ
But evermore it seemed an easier thingN2
At once without remorse to strike her deadL2
Than to cry 'Halt ' and to her own bright faceS2
Accuse her of the least immodestyL2
And thus tongue tied it made him wroth the moreB
That she COULD speak whom his own ear had heardL2
Call herself false and suffering thus he madeL2
Minutes an age but in scarce longer timeW2
Than at Caerleon the full tided UskN2
Before he turn to fall seaward againQ
Pauses did Enid keeping watch beholdL2
In the first shallow shade of a deep woodL2
Before a gloom of stubborn shafted oaksX2
Three other horsemen waiting wholly armedL2
Whereof one seemed far larger than her lordL2
And shook her pulses crying 'Look a prizeY2
Three horses and three goodly suits of armsS
And all in charge of whom a girl set on '-
'Nay ' said the second 'yonder comes a knight '-
The third 'A craven how he hangs his head '-
The giant answered merrily 'Yea but oneQ
Wait here and when he passes fall upon him '-
-
And Enid pondered in her heart and saidL2
'I will abide the coming of my lordL2
And I will tell him all their villainyQ
My lord is weary with the fight beforeB
And they will fall upon him unawaresZ2
I needs must disobey him for his goodL2
How should I dare obey him to his harmA3
Needs must I speak and though he kill me for itL2
I save a life dearer to me than mine '-
-
And she abode his coming and said to himF2
With timid firmness 'Have I leave to speak '-
He said 'Ye take it speaking ' and she spokeN2
-
'There lurk three villains yonder in the woodL2
And each of them is wholly armed and oneQ
Is larger limbed than you are and they sayB3
That they will fall upon you while ye pass '-
-
To which he flung a wrathful answer backN2
'And if there were an hundred in the woodL2
And every man were larger limbed than IL2
And all at once should sally out upon meJ
I swear it would not ruffle me so muchC3
As you that not obey me Stand asideL2
And if I fall cleave to the better man '-
-
And Enid stood aside to wait the eventL2
Not dare to watch the combat only breatheD3
Short fits of prayer at every stroke a breathQ2
And he she dreaded most bare down upon himF2
Aimed at the helm his lance erred but Geraint'sB3
A little in the late encounter strainedL2
Struck through the bulky bandit's corselet homeV
And then brake short and down his enemy rolledL2
And there lay still as he that tells the taleA2
Saw once a great piece of a promontoryB
That had a sapling growing on it slideL2
From the long shore cliff's windy walls to the beachF
And there lie still and yet the sapling grewB
So lay the man transfixt His craven pairB
Of comrades making slowlier at the PrinceB3
When now they saw their bulwark fallen stoodL2
On whom the victor to confound them moreB
Spurred with his terrible war cry for as oneQ
That listens near a torrent mountain brookN2
All through the crash of the near cataract hearsB3
The drumming thunder of the huger fallO2
At distance were the soldiers wont to hearB
His voice in battle and be kindled by itL2
And foemen scared like that false pair who turnedL2
Flying but overtaken died the deathQ2
Themselves had wrought on many an innocentL2
-
Thereon Geraint dismounting picked the lanceB3
That pleased him best and drew from those dead wolveC2

Alfred Lord Tennyson



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