The Dead Prophet Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BAC A B DE A FGFG H IJKJ H BLBL H MNMN H OPQP H R RP G STST G PCPU G VWVW G EPEP G PXPX H YZY H GA2GA2 H B2A2B2A2 H A2PA2 H A2XA2X G A2A2A2 G C2D2E2

IA
-
DeadB
And the Muses cried with a stormy cryA
'Send them no more for evermoreC
Let the people die '-
-
-
IIA
-
DeadB
'Is it he then brought so low '-
And a careless people flock'd from the fieldsD
With a purse to pay for the showE
-
-
IIIA
-
Dead who had served his timeF
Was one of the people's kingsG
Had labour'd in lifting them out of slimeF
And showing them souls have wingsG
-
-
IVH
-
Dumb on the winter heath he layI
His friends had stript him bareJ
And roll'd his nakedness everywayK
That all the crowd might stareJ
-
-
VH
-
A storm worn signpost not to be readB
And a tree with a moulder'd nestL
On its barkless bones stood stark by the deadB
And behind him low in the WestL
-
-
VIH
-
With shifting ladders of shadow and lightM
And blurr'd in colour and formN
The sun hung over the gates of NightM
And glared at a coming stormN
-
-
VIIH
-
Then glided a vulturous Beldam forthO
That on dumb death had thrivenP
They call'd her 'Reverence' here upon earthQ
And 'The Curse of the Prophet' in HeavenP
-
-
VIIIH
-
She knelt 'We worship him' all but weptR
'So great so noble was he '-
She clear'd her sight she arose she sweptR
The dust of earth from her kneeP
-
-
IXG
-
'Great for he spoke and the people heardS
And his eloquence caught like a flameT
From zone to zone of the world till his WordS
Had won him a noble nameT
-
-
XG
-
Noble he sung and the sweet sound ranP
Thro' palace and cottage doorC
For he touch'd on the whole sad planet of manP
The kings and the rich and the poorU
-
-
XIG
-
And he sung not alone of an old sun setV
But a sun coming up in his youthW
Great and noble O yes but yetV
For man is a lover of TruthW
-
-
XIIG
-
And bound to follow wherever she goE
Stark naked and up or downP
Thro' her high hill passes of stainless snowE
Or the foulest sewer of the townP
-
-
XIIIG
-
Noble and great O ay but thenP
Tho' a prophet should have his dueX
Was he noblier fashion'd than other menP
Shall we see to it I and youX
-
-
XIVH
-
For since he would sit on a Prophet's seatY
As a lord of the Human soulZ
We needs must scan him from head to feetY
Were it but for a wart or a mole '-
-
-
XVH
-
His wife and his child stood by him in tearsG
But she she push'd them asideA2
'Tho' a name may last for a thousand yearsG
Yet a truth is a truth ' she criedA2
-
-
XVIH
-
And she that had haunted his pathway stillB2
Had often truckled and cower'dA2
When he rose in his wrath and had yielded her willB2
To the master as overpower'dA2
-
-
XVIIH
-
She tumbled his helpless corpse aboutA2
'Small blemish upon the skinP
But I think we know what is fair withoutA2
Is often as foul within '-
-
-
XVIIIH
-
She crouch'd she tore him part from partA2
And out of his body she drewX
The red 'Blood eagle' of liver and heartA2
She held them up to the viewX
-
-
XIXG
-
She gabbled as she groped in the deadA2
And all the people were pleasedA2
'See what a little heart ' she saidA2
'And the liver is half diseased '-
-
-
XXG
-
She tore the Prophet after deathC2
And the people paid her wellD2
Lightnings flicker'd along the heathE2
One shriek'd 'The fires of Hell '-

Alfred Lord Tennyson



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