I Cannot Love Thee! Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH IIJJKKLLMMNO PPQQNNRRST UHCQVVWWXXYYZZA2A2B2 B2 OOB2B2 C2C2B2B2D2E2F2F2Q G2G2RRB2B2KKZH2 AAB2B2NN B2B2B2B2I2I2B2B2J2K2 B2B2L2L2M2M2XX XXXXXXQQOOCCN2V STXXF2ZKKO2O2 VVB2B2B2B2P2P2Q2Q2B2 B2F2F2XXXXER2 S2S2B2B2N2VOOST B2B2XXXX B2B2R2E T2T2B2B2B2B2VVCCA2A2 U2U2V2V2W2W2C2C2X2X2 Y2Y2 B2B2B2B2| I CANNOT love thee tho' thy soul | A |
| Be one which all good thoughts control | A |
| Altho' thy eyes be starry bright | B |
| And the gleams of golden light | B |
| Fall upon thy silken hair | C |
| And thy forehead broad and fair | C |
| Something of a cold disgust | D |
| Wonderful and most unjust | D |
| Something of a sullen fear | E |
| Weighs my heart when thou art near | E |
| And my soul which cannot twine | F |
| Thought or sympathy with thine | F |
| With a coward instinct tries | G |
| To hide from thy enamour'd eyes | G |
| Wishing for a sudden blindness | H |
| To escape those looks of kindness | H |
| - | |
| Sad she folds her shivering wings | I |
| From the love thy spirit brings | I |
| Like a chain d thing caress'd | J |
| By the hand it knows the best | J |
| By the hand which day by day | K |
| Visits its imprison'd stay | K |
| Bringing gifts of fruit and blossom | L |
| From the green earth's plenteous bosom | L |
| All but that for which it pines | M |
| In those narrow close confines | M |
| With a sad and ceaseless sigh | N |
| Wild and wing d Liberty | O |
| - | |
| Can it be no instinct dwells | P |
| In th' immortal soul which tells | P |
| That thy love oh human brother | Q |
| Is unwelcome to another | Q |
| Can the changeful wavering eye | N |
| Raised to thine in forced reply | N |
| Can the cold constrain d smile | R |
| Shrinking from thee all the while | R |
| Satisfy thy heart or prove | S |
| Such a likeness of true love | T |
| - | |
| Seems to me that I should guess | U |
| By what a world of bitterness | H |
| By what a gulf of hopeless care | C |
| Our two hearts divided were | Q |
| Seems to me that I should know | V |
| All the dread that lurk'd below | V |
| By want of answer found | W |
| In the voice's trembling sound | W |
| By the unresponsive gaze | X |
| By the smile which vainly plays | X |
| In whose cold imperfect birth | Y |
| Glows no fondness lives no mirth | Y |
| By the sigh whose different tone | Z |
| Hath no echo of thine own | Z |
| By the hand's cold clasp which still | A2 |
| Held as not of its free will | A2 |
| Shrinks as it for freedom yearn'd | B2 |
| That my love was unreturn'd | B2 |
| - | |
| When thy tongue ah woe is me | O |
| Whispers love vows tenderly | O |
| Mine is shaping all unheard | B2 |
| Fragments of some withering word | B2 |
| - | |
| Which by its complete farewell | C2 |
| Shall divide us like a spell | C2 |
| And my heart beats loud and fast | B2 |
| Wishing that confession past | B2 |
| And the tide of anguish rises | D2 |
| Till its strength my soul surprises | E2 |
| And the reckless words unspoken | F2 |
| Nearly have the silence broken | F2 |
| With a gush like some wild river | Q |
| 'Oh depart depart for ever ' | - |
| - | |
| But my faltering courage fails | G2 |
| And my drooping spirit quails | G2 |
| So sweet earnest looks thy smile | R |
| Full of tenderness the while | R |
| And with such strange pow'r are gifted | B2 |
| The eyes to which my own are lifted | B2 |
| So my faint heart dies away | K |
| And my lip can nothing say | K |
| And I long to be alone | Z |
| For I weep when thou are gone | H2 |
| - | |
| Yes I weep but then my soul | A |
| Free to ponder o'er the whole | A |
| Free from fears which check'd its thought | B2 |
| And the pain thy presence brought | B2 |
| Whispers me the useless lie | N |
| 'For thy love he will not die | N |
| Such pity is but vanity ' | - |
| And I bend my weary head | B2 |
| O'er the tablets open spread | B2 |
| Whose fair pages me invite | B2 |
| All I dared not say to write | B2 |
| And my fingers take the pen | I2 |
| And my heart feels braced again | I2 |
| With a resolute intent | B2 |
| But ere yet that page be sent | B2 |
| Once I view the written words | J2 |
| Which must break thy true heart's chords | K2 |
| And a vision piercing bright | B2 |
| Rises on my coward sight | B2 |
| Of thy fond hand gladly taking | L2 |
| What must set thy bosom aching | L2 |
| While too soon the brittle seal | M2 |
| Bids the page the worst reveal | M2 |
| Blending in thy eager gaze | X |
| Scorn and anguish and amaze | X |
| - | |
| Powerless then my hand reposes | X |
| On the tablet which it closes | X |
| With a cold and shivering sense | X |
| Born of Truth's omnipotence | X |
| And my weeping blots the leaves | X |
| And my sinking spirit grieves | X |
| Humbled in that bitter hour | Q |
| By the very consciousness of power | Q |
| What am I that I should be | O |
| Such a source of woe to thee | O |
| What am I that I should dare | C |
| Thus to play with thy despair | C |
| And persuade myself that thou | N2 |
| Wilt not bend beneath the blow | V |
| - | |
| Rather should my conscience move | S |
| Me to think of this vain love | T |
| Which my life of peace beguiles | X |
| As a tax on foolish smiles | X |
| Which like light not meant for one | F2 |
| Who wandering in the dark alone | Z |
| Hath yet been tempted by its ray | K |
| To turn aside and lose his way | K |
| Binds me by their careless sin | O2 |
| To take the misled wanderer in | O2 |
| - | |
| And I praise thee as I go | V |
| Wandering weary full of woe | V |
| To my own unwilling heart | B2 |
| Cheating it to take thy part | B2 |
| By rehearsing each rare merit | B2 |
| Which thy nature doth inherit | B2 |
| To myself their list I give | P2 |
| Most prosaic positive | P2 |
| How thy heart is good and true | Q2 |
| And thy face most fair to view | Q2 |
| How the powers of thy mind | B2 |
| Flatterers in the wisest find | B2 |
| And the talents God hath given | F2 |
| Seem as held in trust for Heaven | F2 |
| Labouring on for noble ends | X |
| Steady to thy boyhood's friends | X |
| Slow to give or take offence | X |
| Full of earnest eloquence | X |
| Hopeful eager gay of cheer | E |
| Frank in all thy dealings here | R2 |
| - | |
| Ready to redress the wrong | S2 |
| Of the weak against the strong | S2 |
| Keeping up an honest pride | B2 |
| With those the world hath deified | B2 |
| But gently bending heart and brow | N2 |
| To the helpless and the low | V |
| How in brief there dwells in thee | O |
| All tht's generous and free | O |
| All that may most aptly move | S |
| My Spirit to an answering love | T |
| - | |
| But in vain the tale is told | B2 |
| Still my heart lies dead and cold | B2 |
| Still it wanders and rebels | X |
| From the thought that thus compels | X |
| And refuses to rejoice | X |
| Save in unconstrain emacr d choice | X |
| - | |
| Therefore when thine eyes shall read | B2 |
| This my book oh take thou heed | B2 |
| In the dim lines written here | R2 |
| All shall be explained and clear | E |
| - | |
| All my lips could never speak | T2 |
| When my heart grew coward weak | T2 |
| All my hand could never write | B2 |
| Tho' I planned it day and night | B2 |
| All shall be at length confest | B2 |
| And thou'lt forgive and let me rest | B2 |
| None but thou and I shall know | V |
| Whose the doom and whose the woe | V |
| None but thou and I shall share | C |
| In the secret printed there | C |
| It shall be a secret still | A2 |
| Tho' all look on it at will | A2 |
| And the eye shall read in vain | U2 |
| What the heart cannot explain | U2 |
| Each one baffled in his turn | V2 |
| Shall no more its aim discern | V2 |
| Than a wanderer who might look | W2 |
| On some wizard's magic book | W2 |
| Of the darkly worded spell | C2 |
| Where deep hidden meanings dwell | C2 |
| Memory fancy they shall task | X2 |
| This sad riddle to unmask | X2 |
| Or with bold conjectural fame | Y2 |
| Fit the pages with a name | Y2 |
| - | |
| But nothing shall they understand | B2 |
| And vainly shall the stanger's hand | B2 |
| Essay to fling the leaves apart | B2 |
| Which bear MY message to THY heart | B2 |
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton
(1)
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