On The Brink Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ FKFK ILIL MNMN OPOP QPPP RSRT UVUW XYXY ZA2VA2 B2C2D2C2 E2F2E2F2| I WATCH D her as she stoop d to pluck | A |
| A wild flower in her hair to twine | B |
| And wish d that it had been my luck | A |
| To call her mine | B |
| - | |
| Anon I heard her rate with mad | C |
| Mad words her babe within its cot | D |
| And felt particularly glad | C |
| That it had not | D |
| - | |
| I knew such subtle brains have men | E |
| That she was uttering what she shouldn t | F |
| And thought that I would chide and then | E |
| I thought I would n t | F |
| - | |
| Few could have gaz d upon that face | G |
| Those pouting coral lips and chided | H |
| A Rhadamanthus in my place | G |
| Had done as I did | H |
| - | |
| For wrath with which our bosoms glow | I |
| Is chain d there oft by Beauty s spell | J |
| And more than that I did not know | I |
| The widow well | J |
| - | |
| So the harsh phrase pass d unreprov d | F |
| Still mute O brothers was it sin | K |
| I drank unutterably mov d | F |
| Her beauty in | K |
| - | |
| And to myself I murmur d low | I |
| As on her upturn d face and dress | L |
| The moonlight fell Would she say No | I |
| By chance or Yes | L |
| - | |
| She stood so calm so like a ghost | M |
| Betwixt me and that magic moon | N |
| That I already was almost | M |
| A finish d coon | N |
| - | |
| But when she caught adroitly up | O |
| And sooth d with smiles her little daughter | P |
| And gave it if I m right a sup | O |
| Of barley water | P |
| - | |
| And crooning still the strange sweet lore | Q |
| Which only mothers tongues can utter | P |
| Snow d with deft hand the sugar o er | P |
| Its bread and butter | P |
| - | |
| And kiss d it clingingly ah why | R |
| Don t women do these things in private | S |
| I felt that if I lost her I | R |
| Should not survive it | T |
| - | |
| And from my mouth the words nigh flew | U |
| The past the future I forgat em | V |
| Oh if you d kiss me as you do | U |
| That thankless atom | W |
| - | |
| But this thought came ere yet I spake | X |
| And froze the sentence on my lips | Y |
| They err who marry wives that make | X |
| Those little slips | Y |
| - | |
| It came like some familiar rhyme | Z |
| Some copy to my boyhood set | A2 |
| And that s perhaps the reason I m | V |
| Unmarried yet | A2 |
| - | |
| Would she have own d how pleas d she was | B2 |
| And told her love with widow s pride | C2 |
| I never found out that because | D2 |
| I never tried | C2 |
| - | |
| Be kind to babes and beasts and birds | E2 |
| Hearts may be hard though lips are coral | F2 |
| And angry words are angry words | E2 |
| And that s the moral | F2 |
Charles Stuart Calverley
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About On The Brink
On The Brink is a poem by Charles Stuart Calverley. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
Write your comment about On The Brink poem by Charles Stuart Calverley
Best Poems of Charles Stuart Calverley