The Bombardment Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFCG AHIJKBAKKLKG AMNOKKAGPGQKAG AB FKG KAKKRKSTKAAAA UDKKG FKKEKK FVK AWXKYG

Slowly without force the rain drops into the city It stops a momentA
on the carved head of Saint John then slides on again slipping and tricklingB
over his stone cloak It splashes from the lead conduit of a gargoyleC
and falls from it in turmoil on the stones in the Cathedral squareD
Where are the people and why does the fretted steeple sweep about in the skyE
Boom The sound swings against the rain Boom again After it only waterF
rushing in the gutters and the turmoil from the spout of the gargoyleC
Silence Ripples and mutters BoomG
-
-
The room is damp but warm Little flashes swarm about from the firelightA
The lustres of the chandelier are bright and clusters of rubiesH
leap in the bohemian glasses on the etagere' Her hands are restlessI
but the white masses of her hair are quite still Boom Will it never ceaseJ
to torture this iteration Boom The vibration shatters a glassK
on the etagere' It lies there formless and glowingB
with all its crimson gleams shot out of pattern spilled flowing redA
blood red A thin bell note pricks through the silence A door creaksK
The old lady speaks 'Victor clear away that broken glass ' 'AlasK
Madame the bohemian glass ' 'Yes Victor one hundred years agoL
my father brought it ' Boom The room shakes the servitor quakesK
Another goblet shivers and breaks BoomG
-
-
It rustles at the window pane the smooth streaming rain and he is shutA
within its clash and murmur Inside is his candle his table his inkM
his pen and his dreams He is thinking and the walls are pierced withN
beams of sunshine slipping through young green A fountain tosses itselfO
up at the blue sky and through the spattered water in the basin he can seeK
copper carp lazily floating among cold leaves A wind harp in a cedar treeK
grieves and whispers and words blow into his brain bubbled iridescentA
shooting up like flowers of fire higher and higher BoomG
The flame flowers snap on their slender stems The fountain rears upP
in long broken spears of dishevelled water and flattens into the earth BoomG
And there is only the room the table the candle and the sliding rainQ
Again Boom Boom Boom He stuffs his fingers into his earsK
He sees corpses and cries out in fright Boom It is nightA
and they are shelling the city Boom BoomG
-
-
A child wakes and is afraid and weeps in the darkness What has madeA
the bed shake 'Mother where are you I am awake ' 'Hush my DarlingB
I am here ' 'But Mother something so queer happened the room shook '-
Boom 'Oh What is it What is the matter ' Boom 'Where is FatherF
I am so afraid ' Boom The child sobs and shrieks The houseK
trembles and creaks BoomG
-
-
Retorts globes tubes and phials lie shattered All his trialsK
oozing across the floor The life that was his choosing lonely urgentA
goaded by a hope all gone A weary man in a ruined laboratoryK
that is his story Boom Gloom and ignorance and the jig of drunken brutesK
Diseases like snakes crawling over the earth leaving trails of slimeR
Wails from people burying their dead Through the window he can seeK
the rocking steeple A ball of fire falls on the lead of the roofS
and the sky tears apart on a spike of flame Up the spireT
behind the lacings of stone zigzagging in and out of the carved tracingsK
squirms the fire It spouts like yellow wheat from the gargoyles coils roundA
the head of Saint John and aureoles him in light It leaps into the nightA
and hisses against the rain The Cathedral is a burning stain on the whiteA
wet nightA
-
-
Boom The Cathedral is a torch and the houses next to it begin to scorchU
Boom The bohemian glass on the etagere' is no longer thereD
Boom A stalk of flame sways against the red damask curtainsK
The old lady cannot walk She watches the creeping stalk and countsK
Boom Boom BoomG
-
-
The poet rushes into the street and the rain wraps him in a sheet of silverF
But it is threaded with gold and powdered with scarlet beads The city burnsK
Quivering spearing thrusting lapping streaming run the flamesK
Over roofs and walls and shops and stalls Smearing its gold on the skyE
the fire dances lances itself through the doors and lisps and chucklesK
along the floorsK
-
-
The child wakes again and screams at the yellow petalled flowerF
flickering at the window The little red lips of flame creep alongV
the ceiling beamsK
-
-
The old man sits among his broken experiments and looks atA
the burning Cathedral Now the streets are swarming with peopleW
They seek shelter and crowd into the cellars They shout and callX
and over all slowly and without force the rain drops into the cityK
Boom And the steeple crashes down among the people Boom Boom againY
The water rushes along the gutters The fire roars and mutters BoomG

Amy Lowell



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