A Tryst Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KIKK LMLM NKNK OPOP QKQK KRKR SLSL TTTU VKVK KWKW XYXY KKKK ZXZX A2B2A2B2 XC2XC2From out the desolation of the North | A |
An iceberg took it away | B |
From its detaining comrades breaking forth | A |
And traveling night and day | B |
- | |
At whose command Who bade it sail the deep | C |
With that resistless force | D |
Who made the dread appointment it must keep | C |
Who traced its awful course | D |
- | |
To the warm airs that stir in the sweet South | E |
A good ship spread her sails | F |
Stately she passed beyond the harbor's mouth | E |
Chased by the favoring gales | F |
- | |
And on her ample decks a happy crowd | G |
Bade the fair land good by | H |
Clear shone the day with not a single cloud | G |
In all the peaceful sky | H |
- | |
Brave men sweet women little children bright | I |
For all these she made room | J |
And with her freight of beauty and delight | I |
She went to meet her doom | J |
- | |
Storms buffeted the iceberg spray was swept | K |
Across its loftiest height | I |
Guided alike by storm and calm it kept | K |
Its fatal path aright | K |
- | |
Then warmer waves gnawed at its crumbling base | L |
As if in piteous plea | M |
The ardent sun sent slow tears down its face | L |
Soft flowing to the sea | M |
- | |
Dawn kissed it with her tender rose tints Eve | N |
Bathed it in violet | K |
The wistful color o'er it seemed to grieve | N |
With a divine regret | K |
- | |
Whether Day clad its clefts in rainbows dim | O |
And shadowy as a dream | P |
Or Night through lonely spaces saw it swim | O |
White in the moonlight's gleam | P |
- | |
Ever Death rode upon its solemn heights | Q |
Ever his watch he kept | K |
Cold at its heart through changing days and nights | Q |
Its changeless purpose slept | K |
- | |
And where afar a smiling coast it passed | K |
Straightway the air grew chill | R |
Dwellers thereon perceived a bitter blast | K |
A vague report of ill | R |
- | |
Like some imperial creature moving slow | S |
Meanwhile with matchless grace | L |
The stately ship unconscious of her foe | S |
Drew near the trysting place | L |
- | |
For still the prosperous breezes followed her | T |
And half the voyage was o'er | T |
In many a breast glad thoughts began to stir | T |
Of lands that lay before | U |
- | |
And human hearts with longing love were dumb | V |
That soon should cease to beat | K |
Thrilled with the hope of meetings soon to come | V |
And lost in memories sweet | K |
- | |
Was not the weltering waste of water wide | K |
Enough for both to sail | W |
What drew the two together o'er the tide | K |
Fair ship and iceberg pale | W |
- | |
There came a night with neither moon nor star | X |
Clouds draped the sky in black | Y |
With fluttering canvas reefed at every spar | X |
And weird fire in her track | Y |
- | |
The ship swept on a wild wind gathering fast | K |
Drove her at utmost speed | K |
Bravely she bent before the fitful blast | K |
That shook her like a reed | K |
- | |
helmsman turn thy wheel Will no surmise | Z |
Cleave through the midnight drear | X |
No warning of the horrible surprise | Z |
Reach thine unconscious ear | X |
- | |
She rushed upon her ruin Not a flash | A2 |
Broke up the waiting dark | B2 |
Dully through wind and sea one awful crash | A2 |
Sounded with none to mark | B2 |
- | |
Scarcely her crew had time to clutch despair | X |
So swift the work was done | C2 |
Ere their pale lips could frame a speechless prayer | X |
They perished every one | C2 |
Celia Thaxter
(1)
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