The Hesitating Veteran Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABACDEDE FGFGHIHI JKJKLGLG MFDFNONO PFPFQEQE FQQQQEQE QRQSQTQT QFQFOOOO| When I was young and full of faith | A |
| And other fads that youngsters cherish | B |
| A cry rose as of one that saith | A |
| With emphasis 'Help or I perish ' | C |
| 'Twas heard in all the land and men | D |
| The sound were each to each repeating | E |
| It made my heart beat faster then | D |
| Than any heart can now be beating | E |
| - | |
| For the world is old and the world is gray | F |
| Grown prudent and I think more witty | G |
| She's cut her wisdom teeth they say | F |
| And doesn't now go in for Pity | G |
| Besides the melancholy cry | H |
| Was that of one 'tis now conceded | I |
| Whose plight no one beneath the sky | H |
| Felt half so poignantly as he did | I |
| - | |
| Moreover he was black And yet | J |
| That sentimental generation | K |
| With an austere compassion set | J |
| Its face and faith to the occasion | K |
| Then there were hate and strife to spare | L |
| And various hard knocks a plenty | G |
| And I 'twas more than my true share | L |
| I must confess took five and twenty | G |
| - | |
| That all is over now the reign | M |
| Of love and trade stills all dissensions | F |
| And the clear heavens arch again | D |
| Above a land of peace and pensions | F |
| The black chap at the last we gave | N |
| Him everything that he had cried for | O |
| Though many white chaps in the grave | N |
| 'Twould puzzle to say what they died for | O |
| - | |
| I hope he's better off I trust | P |
| That his society and his master's | F |
| Are worth the price we paid and must | P |
| Continue paying in disasters | F |
| But sometimes doubts press thronging round | Q |
| 'Tis mostly when my hurts are aching | E |
| If war for Union was a sound | Q |
| And profitable undertaking | E |
| - | |
| 'Tis said they mean to take away | F |
| The Negro's vote for he's unlettered | Q |
| 'Tis true he sits in darkness day | Q |
| And night as formerly when fettered | Q |
| But pray observe howe'er he vote | Q |
| To whatsoever party turning | E |
| He'll be with gentlemen of note | Q |
| And wealth and consequence and learning | E |
| - | |
| With saints and sages on each side | Q |
| How could a fool through lack of knowledge | R |
| Vote wrong If learning is no guide | Q |
| Why ought one to have been in college | S |
| O Son of Day O Son of Night | Q |
| What are your preferences made of | T |
| I know not which of you is right | Q |
| Nor which to be the more afraid of | T |
| - | |
| The world is old and the world is bad | Q |
| And creaks and grinds upon its axis | F |
| And man's an ape and the gods are mad | Q |
| There's nothing sure not even our taxes | F |
| No mortal man can Truth restore | O |
| Or say where she is to be sought for | O |
| I know what uniform I wore | O |
| O that I knew which side I fought for | O |
Ambrose Bierce
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
<< A Spade Poem
T.a.h. Poem>>
Write your comment about The Hesitating Veteran poem by Ambrose Bierce
Best Poems of Ambrose Bierce