Of Three Children Choosing - A Chaplet Of Verse Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCB DEDEDE FGFG HIHI JKJK LMLL IIII NBNB ALALCL LOLOLOLO POPOPOPOLOLLO QRQQR LSLS TPTP UVBV WXWX OIOI LOLO NLYLYYL LLLLLL ZA2B2A2OOOA2 C2LC2L IOIIO D2LD2L E2BE2B LOLO ILIL F2B2G2ZLZ LLLL H2H2LZB2LCCALIIIL| You and I and Burd so blithe | A |
| Burd so blithe and you and I | B |
| The Mower he would whet his scythe | C |
| Before the dew was dry | B |
| - | |
| And he woke soon but we woke soon | D |
| And drew the nursery blind | E |
| All wondering at the waning moon | D |
| With the small June roses twined | E |
| Low in her cradle swung the moon | D |
| With an elfin dawn behind | E |
| - | |
| In whispers while our elders slept | F |
| We knelt and said our prayers | G |
| And dress'd us and on tiptoe crept | F |
| Adown the creaking stairs | G |
| - | |
| The world's possessors lay abed | H |
| And all the world was ours | I |
| Nay nay but hark the Mower's tread | H |
| And we must save the flowers | I |
| - | |
| The Mower knew not rest nor haste | J |
| That old unweary man | K |
| But we were young We paused and raced | J |
| And gather'd while we ran | K |
| - | |
| O youth is careless youth is fleet | L |
| With heart and wing of bird | M |
| The lark flew up beneath our feet | L |
| To his copse the pheasant whirr'd | L |
| - | |
| The cattle from their darkling lairs | I |
| Heaved up and stretch'd themselves | I |
| Almost they trod at unawares | I |
| Upon the busy elves | I |
| - | |
| That dropp'd their spools of gossamer | N |
| To dangle and to dry | B |
| And scurried home to the hollow fir | N |
| Where the white owl winks an eye | B |
| - | |
| Nor you nor I nor Burd so blithe | A |
| Had driven them in this haste | L |
| But the old old man so lean and lithe | A |
| That afar behind us paced | L |
| So lean and lithe with shoulder'd scythe | C |
| And a whetstone at his waist | L |
| - | |
| Within the gate in a grassy round | L |
| Whence they had earliest flown | O |
| He upside down'd his scythe and ground | L |
| Its edge with careful hone | O |
| But we heeded not if we heard the sound | L |
| For the world was ours alone | O |
| The world was ours and with a bound | L |
| The conquering Sun upshone | O |
| - | |
| And while as from his level ray | P |
| We stood our eyes to screen | O |
| The world was not as yesterday | P |
| Our homelier world had been | O |
| So grey and golden green it lay | P |
| All in his quiet sheen | O |
| That wove the gold into the grey | P |
| The grey into the green | O |
| Sure never hand of Puck nor wand | L |
| Of Mab the fairies' queen | O |
| Nor prince nor peer of fairyland | L |
| Had power to weave that wide riband | L |
| Of the grey the gold the green | O |
| - | |
| But the Gods of Greece had been before | Q |
| And walked our meads along | R |
| The great authentic Gods of yore | Q |
| That haunt the earth from shore to shore | Q |
| Trailing their robes of song | R |
| - | |
| And where a sandall'd foot had brush'd | L |
| And where a scarfed hem | S |
| The flowers awoke from sleep and rush'd | L |
| Like children after them | S |
| - | |
| Pell mell they poured by vale and stream | T |
| By lawn and steepy brae | P |
| O children children while you dream | T |
| Your flowers run all away | P |
| - | |
| But afar and abed and sleepily | U |
| The children heard us call | V |
| And Burd so blithe and you and I | B |
| Must be gatherers for all | V |
| - | |
| The meadow sweet beside the hedge | W |
| The dog rose and the vetch | X |
| The sworded iris 'mid the sedge | W |
| The mallow by the ditch | X |
| - | |
| With these and by the wimpling burn | O |
| Where the midges danced in reels | I |
| With the watermint and the lady fern | O |
| We brimm'd out wicker creels | I |
| - | |
| Till all so heavily they weigh'd | L |
| On a bank we flung us down | O |
| Shook out our treasures 'neath the shade | L |
| And wove this Triple Crown | O |
| - | |
| Flower after flower for some there were | N |
| The noonday heats had dried | L |
| And some were dear yet could not bear | Y |
| A lovelier cheek beside | L |
| And some were perfect past compare | Y |
| Ah darlings what a world of care | Y |
| It cost us to decide | L |
| - | |
| Natheless we sang in sweet accord | L |
| Each bending o'er her brede | L |
| O there be flowers in Oxenford | L |
| And flowers be north of Tweed | L |
| And flowers there be on earthly sward | L |
| That owe no mortal seed | L |
| - | |
| And these the brightest that we wove | Z |
| Were Innocence and Truth | A2 |
| And holy Peace and angel Love | B2 |
| Glad Hope and gentle Ruth | A2 |
| Ah bind them fast with triple twine | O |
| Of Memory the wild woodbine | O |
| That still being human stays divine | O |
| And alone is age's youth | A2 |
| - | |
| But hark but look the warning rook | C2 |
| Wings home in level flight | L |
| The children tired with play and book | C2 |
| Have kiss'd and call'd Good night | L |
| - | |
| Ah sisters look What fields be these | I |
| That lie so sad and shorn | O |
| What hand has cut our coppices | I |
| And thro' the trimm'd the ruin'd trees | I |
| Lets wail a wind forlorn | O |
| - | |
| 'Tis Time 'tis Time has done this crime | D2 |
| And laid our meadows waste | L |
| The bent unwearied tyrant Time | D2 |
| That knows nor rest nor haste | L |
| - | |
| Yet courage children homeward bring | E2 |
| Your hearts your garlands high | B |
| For we have dared to do a thing | E2 |
| That shall his worst defy | B |
| - | |
| We cannot nail the dial's hand | L |
| We cannot bind the sun | O |
| By Gibeon to stay and stand | L |
| Or the moon o'er Ajalon | O |
| - | |
| We cannot blunt th' abhorred shears | I |
| Nor shift the skeins of Fate | L |
| Nor say unto the posting years | I |
| Ye shall not desolate | L |
| - | |
| We cannot cage the lion's rage | F2 |
| Nor teach the turtle dove | B2 |
| Beside what well his moan to tell | G2 |
| Or to haunt one only grove | Z |
| But the lion's brood will range for food | L |
| As the fledged bird will rove | Z |
| - | |
| And east and west we three may wend | L |
| Yet we a wreath have wound | L |
| For us shall wind withouten end | L |
| The wide wide world around | L |
| - | |
| Be it east or west and ne'er so far | H2 |
| In east or west shall peep no star | H2 |
| No blossom break from ground | L |
| But minds us of the wreath we wove | Z |
| Of innocence and holy love | B2 |
| That in the meads we found | L |
| And handsell'd from the Mower's scythe | C |
| And bound with memory's living withe | C |
| You and I and Burd so blithe | A |
| Three maidens on a mound | L |
| And all of happiness was ours | I |
| Shall find remembrance 'mid the flowers | I |
| Shall take revival from the flowers | I |
| And by the flowers be crown'd | L |
Arthur Thomas Quiller-couch
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Of Three Children Choosing - A Chaplet Of Verse is a poem by Arthur Thomas Quiller-couch. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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