The Shadow 1 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AAAAAAAAAABC DDDD AAAAABBEFEE AA ABB GHHHGGG IIIJBBJJAKAGGG IIAAAAAAEEE AALLAAEEMMJJ NAAEEGGOOOOAA POOQOO RRA| I dreamed a dream I dreamt that I espied | A |
| Upon a stone that was not rolled aside | A |
| A Shadow sit upon a grave a Shade | A |
| As thin as unsubstantial as of old | A |
| Came the Greek poet told | A |
| To lick the life blood in the trench Ulysses made | A |
| As pale as thin and said | A |
| 'I am the Resurrection of the Dead | A |
| The night is past the morning is at hand | A |
| And I must in my proper semblance stand | A |
| Appear brief space and vanish listen this is true | B |
| I am that Jesus whom they slew ' | C |
| - | |
| And shadows dim I dreamed the dead apostles came | D |
| And bent their heads for sorrow and for shame | D |
| Sorrow for their great loss and shame | D |
| For what they did in that vain name | D |
| - | |
| And in long ranges far behind there seemed | A |
| Pale vapoury angel forms or was it cloud that kept | A |
| Strange watch the women also stood beside and wept | A |
| And Peter spoke the word | A |
| 'O my own Lord | A |
| What is it we must do | B |
| Is it then all untrue | B |
| Did we not see and hear and handle Thee | E |
| Yea for whole hours | F |
| Upon the Mount in Galilee | E |
| On the lake shore and here at Bethany | E |
| When Thou ascended to Thy God and ours ' | - |
| And paler still became the distant cloud | A |
| And at the word the women wept aloud | A |
| - | |
| And the Shade answered 'What ye say I know not | A |
| But it is true | B |
| I am that Jesus whom they slew | B |
| Whom ye have preached but in what way I know not ' | - |
| - | |
| And the great World it chanced came by that way | G |
| And stopped and looked and spoke to the police | H |
| And said the thing for order's sake and peace | H |
| Most certainly must be suppressed the nuisance cease | H |
| His wife and daughter must have where to pray | G |
| And whom to pray to at the least one day | G |
| In seven and something sensible to say | G |
| - | |
| Whether the fact so many years ago | I |
| Had or not happened how was he to know | I |
| Yet he had always heard that it was so | I |
| As for himself perhaps it was all one | J |
| And yet he found it not unpleasant too | B |
| On Sunday morning in the roomy pew | B |
| To see the thing with such decorum done | J |
| As for himself perhaps it was all one | J |
| Yet on one's death bed all men always said | A |
| It was a comfortable thing to think upon | K |
| The atonement and the resurrection of the dead | A |
| So the great World as having said his say | G |
| Unto his country house pursued his way | G |
| And on the grave the Shadow sat all day | G |
| - | |
| And the poor Pope was sure it must be so | I |
| Else wherefore did the people kiss his toe | I |
| The subtle Jesuit cardinal shook his head | A |
| And mildly looked and said | A |
| It mattered not a jot | A |
| Whether the thing indeed were so or not | A |
| Religion must be kept up and the Church preserved | A |
| And for the people this best served | A |
| And then he turned and added most demurely | E |
| 'Whatever may befal | E |
| We Catholics need no evidence at all | E |
| The holy father is infallible surely ' | - |
| - | |
| And English canons heard | A |
| And quietly demurred | A |
| Religion rests on evidence of course | L |
| And on inquiry we must put no force | L |
| Difficulties still upon whatever ground | A |
| Are likely almost certain to be found | A |
| The Theist scheme the Pantheist one and all | E |
| Must with or e'en before the Christian fall | E |
| And till the thing were plainer to our eyes | M |
| To disturb faith was surely most unwise | M |
| As for the Shade who trusted such narration | J |
| Except of course in ancient revelation | J |
| - | |
| And dignitaries of the Church came by | N |
| It had been worth to some of them they said | A |
| Some hundred thousand pounds a year a head | A |
| If it fetched so much in the market truly | E |
| 'Twas not a thing to be given up unduly | E |
| It had been proved by Butler in one way | G |
| By Paley better in a later day | G |
| It had been proved in twenty ways at once | O |
| By many a doctor plain to many a dunce | O |
| There was no question but it must be so | O |
| And the Shade answered that He did not know | O |
| He had no reading and might be deceived | A |
| But still He was the Christ as He believed | A |
| - | |
| And women mild and pure | P |
| Forth from still homes and village schools did pass | O |
| And asked if this indeed were thus alas | O |
| What should they teach their children and the poor | Q |
| The Shade replied He could not know | O |
| But it was truth the fact was so | O |
| - | |
| - | |
| - | |
| - | |
| Who had kept all commandments from his youth | R |
| Yet still found one thing lacking even Truth | R |
| And the Shade only answered 'Go make haste | A |
| Enjoy thy great possessions as thou may'st ' | - |
Arthur Hugh Clough
(1)
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About The Shadow 1
The Shadow 1 is a poem by Arthur Hugh Clough. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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