A Spade Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCDEEFFGGHHIIJJJK KAA| Precursor of our woes historic spade | A |
| What dismal records burn upon thy blade | A |
| On thee I see the maculating stains | B |
| Of passengers' commingled blood and brains | B |
| In this red rust a widow's curse appears | C |
| And here an orphan tarnished thee with tears | D |
| Upon thy handle sanguinary bands | E |
| Reveal the clutching of thine owner's hands | E |
| When first he wielded thee with vigor brave | F |
| To cut a sod and dig a people's grave | F |
| For they who are debauched are dead and ought | G |
| In God's name to be hid from sight and thought | G |
| Within thee as within a magic glass | H |
| I seem to see a foul procession pass | H |
| Judges with ermine dragging in the mud | I |
| And spotted here and there with guiltless blood | I |
| Gold greedy legislators jingling bribes | J |
| Kept editors and sycophantic scribes | J |
| Liars in swarms and plunderers in tribes | J |
| They fade away before the night's advance | K |
| And fancy figures thee a devil's lance | K |
| Gleaming portentous through the misty shade | A |
| While ghosts of murdered virtues shriek about my blade | A |
Ambrose Bierce
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