The Birds Of Cirencester Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABACCADDDDD EEFFDDGGHHIJJJJJ KKKLLLMM DDDKKKJJ NNOODDPP KKKKKKJJ DQRRKKK SSSLLTTT UUVVVWW XXYYJJOODD| Did I ever tell you my dears the way | A |
| That the birds of Cisseter Cisseter eh | B |
| Well Ciren cester one ought to say | A |
| From Castra or Caster | C |
| As your Latin master | C |
| Will further explain to you some day | A |
| Though even the wisest err | D |
| And Shakespeare writes Ci cester | D |
| While every visitor | D |
| Who doesn't say Cissiter | D |
| Is in Ciren cester considered astray | D |
| - | |
| A hundred miles from London town | E |
| Where the river goes curving and broadening down | E |
| From tree top to spire and spire to mast | F |
| Till it tumbles outright in the Channel at last | F |
| A hundred miles from that flat foreshore | D |
| That the Danes and the Northmen haunt no more | D |
| There's a little cup in the Cotswold hills | G |
| Which a spring in a meadow bubbles and fills | G |
| Spanned by a heron's wing crossed by a stride | H |
| Calm and untroubled by dreams of pride | H |
| Guiltless of Fame or ambition's aims | I |
| That is the source of the lordly Thames | J |
| Remark here again that custom contemns | J |
| Both Tames and Thames you must say Tems | J |
| But why no matter from them you can see | J |
| Cirencester's tall spires loom up o'er the lea | J |
| - | |
| A D Five Hundred and Fifty two | K |
| The Saxon invaders a terrible crew | K |
| Had forced the lines of the Britons through | K |
| And Cirencester half mud and thatch | L |
| Dry and crisp as a tinder match | L |
| Was fiercely beleaguered by foes who'd catch | L |
| At any device that could harry and rout | M |
| The folk that so boldly were holding out | M |
| - | |
| For the streets of the town as you'll see to day | D |
| Were twisted and curved in a curious way | D |
| That kept the invaders still at bay | D |
| And the longest bolt that a Saxon drew | K |
| Was stopped ere a dozen of yards it flew | K |
| By a turn in the street and a law so true | K |
| That even these robbers of all laws scorners | J |
| Knew you couldn't shoot arrows around street corners | J |
| - | |
| So they sat them down on a little knoll | N |
| And each man scratched his Saxon poll | N |
| And stared at the sky where clear and high | O |
| The birds of that summer went singing by | O |
| As if in his glee each motley jester | D |
| Were mocking the foes of Cirencester | D |
| Till the jeering crow and the saucy linnet | P |
| Seemed all to be saying Ah you're not in it | P |
| - | |
| High o'er their heads the mavis flew | K |
| And the ouzel cock so black of hue | K |
| And the throstle with his note so true | K |
| You remember what Shakespeare says he knew | K |
| And the soaring lark that kept dropping through | K |
| Like a bucket spilling in wells of blue | K |
| And the merlin seen on heraldic panes | J |
| With legs as vague as the Queen of Spain's | J |
| - | |
| And the dashing swift that would ricochet | D |
| From the tufts of grasses before them yet | Q |
| Like bold Antaeus would each time bring | R |
| New life from the earth barely touched by his wing | R |
| And the swallow and martlet that always knew | K |
| The straightest way home Here a Saxon churl drew | K |
| His breath tapped his forehead an idea had got through | K |
| - | |
| So they brought them some nets which straightway they filled | S |
| With the swallows and martlets the sweet birds who build | S |
| In the houses of man all that innocent guild | S |
| Who sing at their labor on eaves and in thatch | L |
| And they stuck on their feathers a rude lighted match | L |
| Made of resin and tow Then they let them all go | T |
| To be free As a child like diversion Ah no | T |
| To work Cirencester's red ruin and woe | T |
| - | |
| For straight to each nest they flew in wild quest | U |
| Of their homes and their fledgelings that they loved the best | U |
| And straighter than arrow of Saxon e'er sped | V |
| They shot o'er the curving streets high overhead | V |
| Bringing fire and terror to roof tree and bed | V |
| Till the town broke in flame wherever they came | W |
| To the Briton's red ruin the Saxon's red shame | W |
| - | |
| Yet they're all gone together To day you'll dig up | X |
| From mound or from barrow some arrow or cup | X |
| Their fame is forgotten their story is ended | Y |
| 'Neath the feet of the race they have mixed with and blended | Y |
| But the birds are unchanged the ouzel cock sings | J |
| Still gold on his crest and still black on his wings | J |
| And the lark chants on high as he mounts to the sky | O |
| Still brown in his coat and still dim in his eye | O |
| While the swallow or martlet is still a free nester | D |
| In the eaves and the roofs of thrice built Cirencester | D |
Bret Harte (francis)
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About The Birds Of Cirencester
The Birds Of Cirencester is a poem by Bret Harte (francis). This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
Write your comment about The Birds Of Cirencester poem by Bret Harte (francis)
Best Poems of Bret Harte (francis)