The Banner Of The Covenanters Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCCDDEEA FFGHIJJAAA KKLLMMNNN OPQQAARRN SSM TTUUA VVWWXXYZA BBA2A2LLAAA B2B2C2D2E2E2F2F2| I | A |
| - | |
| HERE where the rain drops may not fall the sunshine doth not play | B |
| Where the unfelt and distant breeze in whispers dies away | B |
| Here where the stranger paces slow along the silent halls | C |
| Why mutely art thou hanging thus against the massive walls | C |
| Thou that hast seen blood shed for thee that midst the battle tide | D |
| Hast faintly lit the soldier's eye with triumph ere he died | D |
| Bright banner which hath witness'd oft the struggles of the free | E |
| Emblem of proud and holy hope is this a place for thee | E |
| II | A |
| - | |
| Wake wave aloft thou Banner let every snowy fold | F |
| Float on our wild unconquer'd hills as in the days of old | F |
| Hang out and give again to Death a glory and a charm | G |
| Where Heaven's pure dew may freshen thee and Heaven's pure sunshine warm | H |
| Wake wave aloft | I |
| I hear the silk low rustling on the breeze | J |
| Which whistles through the lofty fir and bends the birchen trees | J |
| I hear the tread of warriors arm'd to conquer or to die | A |
| Their bed or bier the heathery hill their canopy the sky | A |
| III | A |
| - | |
| What what is life or death to them they only feel and know | K |
| Freedom is to be struggled for with an unworthy foe | K |
| Their homes their hearths the all for which their fathers too have fought | L |
| And liberty to breathe the prayers their cradled lips were taught | L |
| On on they rush like mounitain streams resistlessly they sweep | M |
| On those who live are heroes now and martyrs those who sleep | M |
| While still the snow white Banner waves above the field of strife | N |
| With a proud triumph as it were a thing of soul and life | N |
| IV | N |
| - | |
| They stand they bleed they fall they make one brief and breathless pause | O |
| And gaze with fading eyes upon the standard of their cause | P |
| Again they brave the strife of death again each weary limb | Q |
| Faintly obeys the warrior soul tho' earth's best hopes grow dim | Q |
| The mountain rills are red with blood the pure and quiet sky | A |
| Rings with the shouts of those who win the groans of those who die | A |
| Taken re taken raised again but soil'd with clay and gore | R |
| Heavily on the wild free breeze that Banner floats once more | R |
| V | N |
| - | |
| I hear the wail of women now the dreadful day is done | S |
| God's creatures wait to strive and slay until to morrow's sun | S |
| I hear the heavy breathing of the weary ones who sleep | M |
| The death sob and the dying word 'the voice of them that weep ' | - |
| The half choked grief of those who while they stifle back their breath | T |
| Scarce know if what they watch be hush'd in slumber or in death | T |
| While mournfully as if it knew and felt for their despair | U |
| The moon lit Banner flaps and falls upon the midnight air | U |
| VI | A |
| - | |
| Morning the glad and glorious light the waking of God's earth | V |
| Which rouses men to stan with gore the soil that gave them birth | V |
| In the still sunshine sleeps the hill the stream the distant town | W |
| In the still sunshine clogg'd and stiff the battle flag hangs down | W |
| Peace is in Heaven and Heaven's good gifts but war is amongst men | X |
| Red blood is pouring on the hill wild shouts are in the glen | X |
| 'T is past they sink they bleed they fly that faint enfeebled host | Y |
| Right is not might the Banner flag the victory are lost | Z |
| VII | A |
| - | |
| Heaven's dew hath drunk the crimson drops which on the heather lay | B |
| The rills that were so red with gore go sparkling on their way | B |
| The limbs that fought the hearts that swell'd are crumbled into dust | A2 |
| The souls which strove are gone to meet the spirits of the just | A2 |
| But that frail silken flag for which and under which they fought | L |
| And which e'en now retains its power upon the soul of thought | L |
| Survives a tatter'd senseless thing to meet the curious eye | A |
| And wake a momentary dream of hopes and days gone by | A |
| VIII | A |
| - | |
| A momentary dream oh not for one poor transient hour | B2 |
| Not for a brief and hurried day that flag exerts its power | B2 |
| Full flashing on our dormant souls the firm conviction comes | C2 |
| That what our fathers did for theirs we could for our homes | D2 |
| We too could brave the giant arm that seeks to chain each word | E2 |
| And rule what form of prayer alone shall by our God be heard | E2 |
| We too in triumph or defeat could drain our heart's best veins | F2 |
| While the good old cause of Liberty for Church and State remains | F2 |
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton
(1)
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