Occasional Address Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABBCDE FFGGHIJJKLMMNNOOPPQQ RRSSKKKRRR RRTT UIIVV WWRRTTXXYZA2B2CCC2 RYYRRRRD2D2| Written for the benefit of a distressed Player detained | A |
| at Brighthelmstone for Debt November | B |
| WHEN in a thousand swarms the summer o'er | B |
| The birds of passage quit our English shore | C |
| By various routs the feather'd myriad moves | D |
| The Becca Fica seeks Italian groves | E |
| - | |
| No more a Wheat ear while the soaring files | F |
| Of sea fowl gather round the Hebrid isles | F |
| But if by bird lime touch'd unplumed confined | G |
| Some poor ill fated straggler stays behind | G |
| Driven from his transient perch beneath your eaves | H |
| On his unshelter'd head the tempest raves | I |
| While drooping round redoubling every pain | J |
| His mate and nestlings ask his help in vain | J |
| So we the buskin and the sock who wear | K |
| And 'strut and fret ' our little season here | L |
| Dismiss'd at length as fortune bids divide | M |
| Some lucky rogues sit down on Thames's side | M |
| Others to Liffy's western banks proceed | N |
| And some driven far a field across the Tweed | N |
| But pinion'd here alas I cannot fly | O |
| The hapless unplumed lingering straggler I | O |
| Unless the healing pity you bestow | P |
| Shall imp my shatter'd wings and let me go | P |
| Hard is his fate whom evil stars have led | Q |
| To seek in scenic art precarious bread | Q |
| While still through wild vicissitudes afloat | R |
| A hero now and now a Sans Culotte | R |
| That eleemosynary bread he gains | S |
| Mingling with real distresses mimic pains | S |
| See in our group a pale lank Falstaff stare | K |
| Much needs he stuffing while young Ammon there | K |
| Rehearses in a garret ten feet square | K |
| And as his soft Statira sighs consent | R |
| Roxana comes not but a dun for rent | R |
| Here shiv'ring Edgar in his blanket roll'd | R |
| Exclaims with too much reason 'Tom's a cold ' | - |
| And vainly tries his sorrows to divert | R |
| While Goneril or Regan wash his shirt | R |
| Lo fresh from Calais Edward mighty king | T |
| Revolves a mutton chop upon a string | T |
| And Hotspur plucking 'honour from the moon ' | - |
| Feeds a sick infant with a pewter spoon | U |
| More bless'd the fisher who undaunted braves | I |
| In his small bark the impetuous winds and waves | I |
| For though he plough the sea when others sleep | V |
| He draws like Glendower spirits from the deep | V |
| - | |
| And while the storm howls round amidst his trouble | W |
| Bright moonshine still illuminates the cobble | W |
| Pale with her fears for him some fair Poissarde | R |
| Watches his nearing boat with fond regard | R |
| Smiles when she sees his little canvass handing | T |
| And clasps her dripping lover on his landing | T |
| More bless'd the peasant who with nervous toil | X |
| Hews the rough oak or breaks the stubborn soil | X |
| Weary indeed he sees the evening come | Y |
| But then the rude yet tranquil hut his home | Z |
| Receives its rustic inmate then are his | A2 |
| Secure repose and dear domestic bliss | B2 |
| The orchard's blushing fruit the garden's store | C |
| The pendant hop that mantles round the door | C |
| Are his and while cheerful faggots burn | C2 |
| 'His lisping children hail their site's return ' | - |
| But wandering Players 'unhousel'd unanneal'd ' | - |
| And unappointed scour life's common field | R |
| A flying squadron disappointments cross 'em | Y |
| And the campaign concludes perhaps at Horsham | Y |
| Oh ye whose timely bounty deigns to shed | R |
| Compassion's balm upon my luckless head | R |
| Benevolence with warm and glowing breast | R |
| And soft celestial mercy doubly bless'd | R |
| Smile on the generous act where means are given | D2 |
| To aid the wretched is to merit heaven | D2 |
Charlotte Smith
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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