Rizpah Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A B CC A DDEE A FFAA G HHII G JJKK G GGGGLLMM G NNOO G PPQQGGRR I GGII I SSTUVV I WWXX I FFYY I IIZZIIA2A2CC G B2B2C2C2 G D2D2RR G E2E2F2F2 G G2G2H2H2II

IA
-
Wailing wailing wailing the wind over land and seaB
And Willy's voice in the wind 'O mother come out to me '-
Why should he call me to night when he knows that I cannot goC
For the downs are as bright as day and the full moon stares at the snowC
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IIA
-
We should be seen my dear they would spy us out of the townD
The loud black nights for us and the storm rushing over the downD
When I cannot see my own hand but am led by the creak of the chainE
And grovel and grope for my son till I find myself drenched with the rainE
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IIIA
-
Anything fallen again nay what was there left to fallF
I have taken them home I have number'd the bones I have hidden them allF
What am I saying and what are you do you come as a spyA
Falls what falls who knows As the tree falls so must it lieA
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IVG
-
Who let her in how long has she been you what have you heardH
Why did you sit so quiet you never have spoken a wordH
O to pray with me yes a lady none of their spiesI
But the night has crept into my heart and begun to darken my eyesI
-
VG
-
Ah you that have lived so soft what should you know of the nightJ
The blast and the burning shame and the bitter frost and the frightJ
I have done it while you were asleep you were only made for the dayK
I have gather'd my baby together and now you may go your wayK
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VIG
-
Nay for it's kind of you Madam to sit by an old dying wifeG
But say nothing hard of my boy I have only an hour of lifeG
I kiss'd my boy in the prison before he went out to dieG
'They dared me to do it ' he said and he never has told me a lieG
I whipt him for robbing an orchard once when he was but a childL
'The farmer dared me to do it ' he said he was always so wildL
And idle and couldn't be idle my Willy he never could restM
The King should have made him a soldier he would have been one of his bestM
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VIIG
-
But he lived with a lot of wild mates and they never would let him be goodN
They swore that he dare not rob the mail and he swore that he wouldN
And he took no life but he took one purse and when all was doneO
He flung it among his fellows I'll none of it said my sonO
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VIIIG
-
I came into court to the Judge and the lawyers I told them my taleP
God's own truth but they kill'd him they kill'd him for robbing the mailP
They hang'd him in chains for a show we had always borne a good nameQ
To be hang'd for a thief and then put away isn't that enough shameQ
Dust to dust low down let us hide but they set him so highG
That all the ships of the world could stare at him passing byG
God 'ill pardon the hell black raven and horrible fowls of the airR
But not the black heart of the lawyer who kill'd him and hang'd him thereR
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IXI
-
And the jailer forced me away I had bid him my last goodbyeG
They had fasten'd the door of his cell 'O mother ' I heard him cryG
I couldn't get back tho' I tried he had something further to sayI
And now I never shall know it The jailer forced me awayI
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XI
-
Then since I couldn't but hear that cry of my boy that was deadS
They seized me and shut me up they fasten'd me down on my bedS
'Mother O mother ' he call'd in the dark to me year after yearT
They beat me for that they beat me you know that I couldn't but hearU
And then at the last they found I had grown so stupid and stillV
They let me abroad again but the creatures had worked their willV
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XII
-
Flesh of my flesh was gone but bone of my bone was leftW
I stole them all from the lawyers and you will you call it a theftW
My baby the bones that had suck'd me the bones that had laughed and had criedX
Theirs O no they are mine not theirs they had moved in my sideX
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XIII
-
Do you think I was scared by the bones I kiss'd 'em I buried 'em allF
I can't dig deep I am old in the night by the churchyard wallF
My Willy 'ill rise up whole when the trumpet of judgment 'ill soundY
But I charge you never to say that I laid him in holy groundY
-
XIIII
-
They would scratch him up they would hang him again on the cursed treeI
Sin O yes we are sinners I know let all that beI
And read me a Bible verse of the Lord's good will toward menZ
'Full of compassion and mercy the Lord' let me hear it againZ
'Full of compassion and mercy long suffering ' Yes O yesI
For the lawyer is born but to murder the Saviour lives but to blessI
He'll never put on the black cap except for the worst of the worstA2
And the first may be last I have heard it in church and the last may be firstA2
Suffering O long suffering yes as the Lord must knowC
Year after year in the mist and the wind and the shower and the snowC
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XIVG
-
Heard have you what they have told you he never repented his sinB2
How do they know it are they his mother are you of his kinB2
Heard have you ever heard when the storm on the downs beganC2
The wind that 'ill wail like a child and the sea that 'ill moan like a manC2
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XVG
-
Election Election and Reprobation it's all very wellD2
But I go to night to my boy and I shall not find him in HellD2
For I cared so much for my boy that the Lord has look'd into my careR
And He means me I'm sure to be happy with Willy I know not whereR
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XVIG
-
And if he be lost but to save my soul that is all your desireE2
Do you think that I care for my soul if my boy be gone to the fireE2
I have been with God in the dark go go you may leave me aloneF2
You never have borne a child you are just as hard as a stoneF2
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XVIIG
-
Madam I beg your pardon I think that you mean to be kindG2
But I cannot hear what you say for my Willy's voice in the windG2
The snow and the sky so bright he used but to call in the darkH2
And he calls to me now from the church and not from the gibbet for harkH2
Nay you can hear it yourself it is coming shaking the wallsI
Willy the moon's in a cloud Good night I am going He callsI

Alfred Lord Tennyson



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