The Victim Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BCDCE DFGHIHJJD A KLKMNOPOQHJ A RSRSTUTUVWX H SFSFYQYQGHJ Q ZQZ A2BA2 QGJ H B2CC2 HHHHQGHJJX

IA
-
A plague upon the people fellB
A famine after laid them lowC
Then thorpe and byre arose in fireD
For on them brake the sudden foeC
So thick they died the people criedE
'The Gods are moved against the land '-
The Priest in horror about his altarD
To Thor and Odin lifted a handF
'Help us from famineG
And plague and strifeH
What would you have of usI
Human lifeH
Were it our nearestJ
Were it our dearestJ
Answer O answerD
We give you his life '-
-
-
IIA
-
But still the foeman spoil'd and burn'dK
And cattle died and deer in woodL
And bird in air and fishes turn'dK
And whiten'd all the rolling floodM
And dead men lay all over the wayN
Or down in a furrow scathed with flameO
And ever and aye the Priesthood moan'dP
Till at last it seem'd that an answer cameO
'The King is happyQ
In child and wifeH
Take you his dearestJ
Give us a life '-
-
-
IIIA
-
The Priest went out by heath and hillR
The King was hunting in the wildS
They found the mother sitting stillR
She cast her arms about the childS
The child was only eight summers oldT
His beauty still with his years increasedU
His face was ruddy his hair was goldT
He seem'd a victim due to the priestU
The Priest beheld himV
And cried with joyW
'The Gods have answer'dX
We give them the boy '-
-
-
IVH
-
The King return'd from out the wildS
He bore but little game in handF
The mother said 'They have taken the childS
To spill his blood and heal the landF
The land is sick the people diseasedY
And blight and famine on all the leaQ
The holy Gods they must be appeasedY
So I pray you tell the truth to meQ
They have taken our sonG
They will have his lifeH
Is he your dearestJ
Or I the wife '-
-
-
VQ
-
The King bent low with hand on browZ
He stay'd his arms upon his kneeQ
'O wife what use to answer nowZ
For now the Priest has judged for me '-
The King was shaken with holy fearA2
'The Gods ' he said 'would have chosen wellB
Yet both are near and both are dearA2
And which the dearest I cannot tell '-
But the Priest was happyQ
His victim wonG
'We have his dearestJ
His only son '-
-
-
VIH
-
The rites prepared the victim baredB2
The knife uprising toward the blowC
To the altar stone she sprang aloneC2
'Me not my darling no '-
He caught her away with a sudden cryH
Suddenly from him brake his wifeH
And shrieking 'I am his dearest IH
I am his dearest ' rush'd on the knifeH
And the Priest was happyQ
'O Father OdinG
We give you a lifeH
Which was his nearestJ
Who was his dearestJ
The Gods have answer'dX
We give them the wife '-

Alfred Lord Tennyson



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