Prelude Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABCACACDD EEFFEFEFGG HHIIHIHIJJ KKCCLCKCCC MMNNMNMNOO PPOOPOPOQQ RRCCRCRCSS OOCCOCOCTT CCUUCUCUOO OOVVOVOVOO CCOOCOCOCC WWWWWWWWCC XXYYXYXYOO WWOOWOWOZZ A2A2OOA2OA2OKK OOB2B2OB2OB2OO MMCCMCMCZZ WWC2C2WC2WCMM A2A2YYA2YA2YTT

Between the green bud and the redA
Youth sat and sang by Time and shedA
From eyes and tresses flowers and tearsB
From heart and spirit hopes and fearsC
Upon the hollow stream whose bedA
Is channelled by the foamless yearsC
And with the white the gold haired headA
Mixed running locks and in Time's earsC
Youth's dreams hung singing and Time's truthD
Was half not harsh in the ears of YouthD
-
Between the bud and the blown flowerE
Youth talked with joy and grief an hourE
With footless joy and wingless griefF
And twin born faith and disbeliefF
Who share the seasons to devourE
And long ere these made up their sheafF
Felt the winds round him shake and showerE
The rose red and the blood red leafF
Delight whose germ grew never grainG
And passion dyed in its own painG
-
Then he stood up and trod to dustH
Fear and desire mistrust and trustH
And dreams of bitter sleep and sweetI
And bound for sandals on his feetI
Knowledge and patience of what mustH
And what things may be in the heatI
And cold of years that rot and rustH
And alter and his spirit's meatI
Was freedom and his staff was wroughtJ
Of strength and his cloak woven of thoughtJ
-
For what has he whose will sees clearK
To do with doubt and faith and fearK
Swift hopes and slow despondenciesC
His heart is equal with the sea'sC
And with the sea wind's and his earL
Is level to the speech of theseC
And his soul communes and takes cheerK
With the actual earth's equalitiesC
Air light and night hills winds and streamsC
And seeks not strength from strengthless dreamsC
-
His soul is even with the sunM
Whose spirit and whose eye are oneM
Who seeks not stars by day nor lightN
And heavy heat of day by nightN
Him can no God cast down whom noneM
Can lift in hope beyond the heightN
Of fate and nature and things doneM
By the calm rule of might and rightN
That bids men be and bear and doO
And die beneath blind skies or blueO
-
To him the lights of even and mornP
Speak no vain things of love or scornP
Fancies and passions miscreateO
By man in things dispassionateO
Nor holds he fellowship forlornP
With souls that pray and hope and hateO
And doubt they had better not been bornP
And fain would lure or scare off fateO
And charm their doomsman from their doomQ
And make fear dig its own false tombQ
-
He builds not half of doubts and halfR
Of dreams his own soul's cenotaphR
Whence hopes and fears with helpless eyesC
Wrapt loose in cast off cerecloths riseC
And dance and wring their hands and laughR
And weep thin tears and sigh light sighsC
And without living lips would quaffR
The living spring in man that liesC
And drain his soul of faith and strengthS
It might have lived on a life's lengthS
-
He hath given himself and hath not soldO
To God for heaven or man for goldO
Or grief for comfort that it givesC
Or joy for grief's restorativesC
He hath given himself to time whose foldO
Shuts in the mortal flock that livesC
On its plain pasture's heat and coldO
And the equal year's alternativesC
Earth heaven and time death life and heT
Endure while they shall be to beT
-
Yet between death and life are hoursC
To flush with love and hide in flowersC
What profit save in these men cryU
Ah see between soft earth and skyU
What only good things here are oursC
They say what better wouldst thou tryU
What sweeter sing of or what powersC
Serve that will give thee ere thou dieU
More joy to sing and be less sadO
More heart to play and grow more gladO
-
Play then and sing we too have playedO
We likewise in that subtle shadeO
We too have twisted through our hairV
Such tendrils as the wild Loves wearV
And heard what mirth the Maenads madeO
Till the wind blew our garlands bareV
And left their roses disarrayedO
And smote the summer with strange airV
And disengirdled and discrownedO
The limbs and locks that vine wreaths boundO
-
We too have tracked by star proof treesC
The tempest of the ThyiadesC
Scare the loud night on hills that hidO
The blood feasts of the BassaridO
Heard their song's iron cadencesC
Fright the wolf hungering from the kidO
Outroar the lion throated seasC
Outchide the north wind if it chidO
And hush the torrent tongued ravinesC
With thunders of their tambourinesC
-
But the fierce flute whose notes acclaimW
Dim goddesses of fiery fameW
Cymbal and clamorous kettledrumW
Timbrels and tabrets all are dumbW
That turned the high chill air to flameW
The singing tongues of fire are numbW
That called on Cotys by her nameW
Edonian till they felt her comeW
And maddened and her mystic faceC
Lightened along the streams of ThraceC
-
For Pleasure slumberless and paleX
And Passion with rejected veilX
Pass and the tempest footed throngY
Of hours that follow them with songY
Till their feet flag and voices failX
And lips that were so loud so longY
Learn silence or a wearier wailX
So keen is change and time so strongY
To weave the robes of life and rendO
And weave again till life have endO
-
But weak is change but strengthless timeW
To take the light from heaven or climbW
The hills of heaven with wasting feetO
Songs they can stop that earth found meetO
But the stars keep their ageless rhymeW
Flowers they can slay that spring thought sweetO
But the stars keep their spring sublimeW
Passions and pleasures can defeatO
Actions and agonies controlZ
And life and death but not the soulZ
-
Because man's soul is man's God stillA2
What wind soever waft his willA2
Across the waves of day and nightO
To port or shipwreck left or rightO
By shores and shoals of good and illA2
And still its flame at mainmast heightO
Through the rent air that foam flakes fillA2
Sustains the indomitable lightO
Whence only man hath strength to steerK
Or helm to handle without fearK
-
Save his own soul's light overheadO
None leads him and none ever ledO
Across birth's hidden harbour barB2
Past youth where shoreward shallows areB2
Through age that drives on toward the redO
Vast void of sunset hailed from farB2
To the equal waters of the deadO
Save his own soul he hath no starB2
And sinks except his own soul guideO
Helmless in middle turn of tideO
-
No blast of air or fire of sunM
Puts out the light whereby we runM
With girded loins our lamplit raceC
And each from each takes heart of graceC
And spirit till his turn be doneM
And light of face from each man's faceC
In whom the light of trust is oneM
Since only souls that keep their placeC
By their own light and watch things rollZ
And stand have light for any soulZ
-
A little time we gain from timeW
To set our seasons in some chimeW
For harsh or sweet or loud or lowC2
With seasons played out long agoC2
And souls that in their time and primeW
Took part with summer or with snowC2
Lived abject lives out or sublimeW
And had their chance of seed to sowC
For service or disservice doneM
To those days daed and this their sonM
-
A little time that we may fillA2
Or with such good works or such illA2
As loose the bonds or make them strongY
Wherein all manhood suffers wrongY
By rose hung river and light foot rillA2
There are who rest not who think longY
Till they discern as from a hillA2
At the sun's hour of morning songY
Known of souls only and those souls freeT
The sacred spaces of the seaT

Algernon Charles Swinburne



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