The Grandmother Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABBCD AEEFG AHHII EJJKK ELLMM ENOPP EQQRR ECCSS CKKTU CVVWW CXXYY CZZA2 CB2B2C2 ED2 P EE2E2F2F2 EG2G2EE EH2H2F2F2 EKKNN CI2I2J2J2 CK2K2C2C2 CL2L2M2M2 CEEN2N2 CEEEE EO2O2CC EH2N2MM ERRP2P2 ECCKK

IA
And Willy my eldest born is gone you say little AnneB
Ruddy and white and strong on his legs he looks like a manB
And Willy's wife has written she never was over wiseC
Never the wife for Willy he would n't take my adviceD
-
IIA
For Annie you see her father was not the man to saveE
Had n't a head to manage and drank himself into his graveE
Pretty enough very pretty but I was against it for oneF
Eh but he would n't hear me and Willy you say is goneG
-
IIIA
Willy my beauty my eldest born the flower of the flockH
Never a man could fling him for Willy stood like a rockH
Here's a leg for a babe of a week ' says doctor and he would be boundI
There was not his like that year in twenty parishes roundI
-
IVE
Strong of his hands and strong on his legs but still of his tongueJ
I ought to have gone before him I wonder he went so youngJ
I cannot cry for him Annie I have not long to stayK
Perhaps I shall see him the sooner for he lived far awayK
-
VE
Why do you look at me Annie you think I am hard and coldL
But all my children have gone before me I am so oldL
I cannot weep for Willy nor can I weep for the restM
Only at your age Annie I could have wept with the bestM
-
VIE
For I remember a quarrel I had with your father my dearN
All for a slanderous story that cost me many a tearO
I mean your grandfather Annie it cost me a world of woeP
Seventy years ago my darling seventy years agoP
-
VIIE
For Jenny my cousin had come to the place and I knew right wellQ
That Jenny had tript in her time I knew but I would not tellQ
And she to be coming and slandering me the base little liarR
But the tongue is a fire as you know my dear the tongue is a fireR
-
VIIIE
And the parson made it his text that week and he said likewiseC
That a lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of liesC
That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outrightS
But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fightS
-
IXC
And Willy had not been down to the farm for a week and a dayK
And all things look'd half dead tho' it was the middle of MayK
Jenny to slander me who knew what Jenny had beenT
But soiling another Annie will never make oneself cleanU
-
XC
And I cried myself well nigh blind and all of an evening lateV
I climb'd to the top of the garth and stood by the road at the gateV
The moon like a rick on fire was rising over the daleW
And whit whit whit in the bush beside me chirrupt the nightingaleW
-
XIC
All of a sudden he stopt there past by the gate of the farmX
Willy he did n't see me and Jenny hung on his armX
Out into the road I started and spoke I scarce knew howY
Ah there's no fool like the old one it makes me angry nowY
-
XIIC
Willy stood up like a man and look'd the thing that he meantZ
Jenny the viper made me a mocking courtesy and wentZ
And I said Let us part in a hundred years it'll all be the sameA2
You cannot love me at all if you love not my good name '-
-
XIIIC
And he turn'd and I saw his eyes all wet in the sweet moonshineB2
Sweetheart I love you so well that your good name is mineB2
And what do I care for Jane let her speak of you well of illC2
But marry me out of hand we two shall be happy still '-
-
XIVE
Marry you Willy ' said I but I needs must speak my mindD2
And I fear you'll listen to tales be jealous and hard and unkind '-
But he turn'd and claspt me in his arms and answer'd No love no '-
Seventy years ago my darling seventy years agoP
-
XVE
So Willy and I were wedded I wore a lilac gownE2
And the ringers rang with a will and he gave the ringers a crownE2
But the first that ever I bare was dead before he was bornF2
Shadow and shine is life little Annie flower and thornF2
-
XVIE
That was the first time too that ever I thought of deathG2
There lay the sweet little body that never had drawn a breathG2
I had not wept little Anne not since I had been a wifeE
But I wept like a child that day for the babe had fought for his lifeE
-
XVIIE
His dear little face was troubled as if with anger or painH2
I look'd at the still little body his trouble had all been in vainH2
For Willy I cannot weep I shall see him another mornF2
But I wept like a child for the child that was dead before he was bornF2
-
XVIIIE
But he cheer'd me my good man for he seldom said me nayK
Kind like a man was he like a man too would have his wayK
Never jealous not he we had many a happy yearN
And he died and I could not weep my own time seem'd so nearN
-
XIXC
But I wish'd it had been God's will that I too then could have diedI2
I began to be tired a little and fain had slept at his sideI2
And that was ten years back or more if I don't forgetJ2
But as to the children Annie they're all about me yetJ2
-
XXC
Pattering over the boards my Annie who left me at twoK2
Patter she goes my own little Annie an Annie like youK2
Pattering over the boards she comes and goes at her willC2
While Harry is in the five acre and Charlie ploughing the hillC2
-
XXIC
And Harry and Charlie I hear them too they sing to their teamL2
Often they come to the door in a pleasant kind of a dreamL2
They come and sit by my chair they hover about my bedM2
I am not always certain if they be alive or deadM2
-
XXIIC
And yet I know for a truth there's none of them left aliveE
For Harry went at sixty your father at sixty fiveE
And Willy my eldest born at nigh threescore and tenN2
I knew them all as babies and now they're elderly menN2
-
XXIIIC
For mine is a time of peace it is not often I grieveE
I am oftener sitting at home in my father's farm at eveE
And the neighbors come and laugh and gossip and so do IE
I find myself often laughing at things that have long gone byE
-
XXIVE
To be sure the preacher says our sins should make us sadO2
But mine is a time of peace and there is Grace to be hadO2
And God not man is the Judge of us all when life shall ceaseC
And in this Book little Annie the message is one of PeaceC
-
XXVE
And age is a time of peace so it be free from painH2
And happy has been my life but I would not live it againN2
I seem to be tired a little that's all and long for restM
Only at your age Annie I could have wept with the bestM
-
XXVIE
So Willy has gone my beauty my eldest born my flowerR
But how can I weep for Willy he has but gone for an hourR
Gone for a minute my son from this room into the nextP2
I too shall go in a minute What time have I to be vextP2
-
XXVIIE
And Willy's wife has written she never was over wiseC
Get me my glasses Annie thank God that I keep my eyesC
There is but a trifle left you when I shall have past awayK
But stay with the old woman now you cannot have long to stayK

Alfred Lord Tennyson



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