The Spartan Boy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDDEE FFEEGGEEHHEEIIJJKKLL EEEEMMNNEEKKOOPQRRNN SSMMII| When I the memory repeat | A |
| Of the heroic actions great | B |
| Which in contempt of pain and death | C |
| Were done by men who drew their breath | C |
| In ages past I find no deed | D |
| That can in fortitude exceed | D |
| The noble boy in Sparta bred | E |
| Who in the temple ministered | E |
| - | |
| - | |
| By the sacrifice he stands | F |
| The lighted incense in his hands | F |
| Through the smoking censer's lid | E |
| Dropped a burning coal which slid | E |
| Into his sleeve and pass d in | G |
| Between the folds even to the skin | G |
| Dire was the pain which then he proved | E |
| But not for this his sleeve he moved | E |
| Or would the scorching ember shake | H |
| Out from the folds lest it should make | H |
| Any confusion or excite | E |
| Disturbance at the sacred rite | E |
| But close he kept the burning coal | I |
| Till it eat itself a hole | I |
| In his flesh The standers by | J |
| Saw no sign and heard no cry | J |
| Of his pangs had no discerning | K |
| Till they smelled the flesh a burning | K |
| All this he did in noble scorn | L |
| And for he was a Spartan born | L |
| - | |
| - | |
| Young student who this story readest | E |
| And with the same thy thoughts now feedest | E |
| Thy weaker nerves might thee forbid | E |
| To do the thing the Spartan did | E |
| Thy feebler heart could not sustain | M |
| Such dire extremity of pain | M |
| But in this story thou mayst see | N |
| What may useful prove to thee | N |
| By his example thou wilt find | E |
| That to the ingenuous mind | E |
| Shame can greater anguish bring | K |
| Than the body's suffering | K |
| That pain is not the worst of ills | O |
| Not when it the body kills | O |
| That in fair religion's cause | P |
| For thy country or the laws | Q |
| When occasion due shall offer | R |
| 'Tis reproachful not to suffer | R |
| If thou shouldst a soldier be | N |
| And a wound should trouble thee | N |
| If without the soldier's fame | S |
| Thou to chance shouldst owe a maim | S |
| Do not for a little pain | M |
| On thy manhood bring a stain | M |
| But to keep thy spirits whole | I |
| Think on the Spartan and the coal | I |
Charles Lamb
(1)
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About The Spartan Boy
The Spartan Boy is a poem by Charles Lamb. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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