The Forest Boy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAABAAAAABABBAACAAD AEAAEAFAAFGAGHAHAHHA AIAAJKLKKLHMHHN DOCCPKAKKAAQAAQARAAS ATAAUCACCAVAVV KAKKAAFAAFOWOOWEHEXH A AAYEAXEAHCHHC KKKKKMZNMYTHE trees have now hid at the edge of the hurst | A |
The spot where the ruins decay | B |
Of the cottage where Will of the Woodland was nursed | A |
And lived so beloved till the moment accursed | A |
When he went from the woodland away | B |
Among all the lads of the plough or the fold | A |
Best esteem'd by the sober and good | A |
Was Will of the Woodlands and often the old | A |
Would tell of his frolics for active and bold | A |
Was William the boy of the wood | A |
Yet gentle was he as the breath of the May | B |
And when sick and declining was laid | A |
The woodman his father young William away | B |
Would go to the forest to labour all day | B |
And perform his hard task in his stead | A |
And when his poor father the forester died | A |
And his mother was sad and alone | C |
He toil'd from the dawn and at evening he hied | A |
In storm or in snow or whate'er might betide | A |
To supply all her wants from the town | D |
- | |
One neighbour they had on the heath to the west | A |
And no other the cottage was near | E |
But she would send Phoebe the child she loved best | A |
To stay with the widow thus sad and distress'd | A |
Her hours of dejection to cheer | E |
As the buds of wild roses the cheeks of the maid | A |
Were just tinted with youth's lovely hue | F |
Her form like the aspen wild graces display'd | A |
And the eyes over which her luxuriant locks stray'd | A |
As the skies of the summer were blue | F |
Still labouring to live yet reflecting the while | G |
Young William consider'd his lot | A |
'Twas hard yet 'twas honest and one tender smile | G |
From Phoebe at night overpaid ev'ry toil | H |
And then all his fatigues were forgot | A |
By the brook where it glides through the copse of Arbeal | H |
When to eat his cold fare he reclined | A |
Then soft from her home his sweet Phoebe would steal | H |
And bring him wood strawberries to finish his meal | H |
And would sit by his side while he dined | A |
And though when employed in the deep forest glade | A |
His days have seem'd slowly to move | I |
Yet Phoebe going home through the wood walk has stray'd | A |
To bid him good night and whatever she said | A |
Was more sweet than the voice of the dove | J |
Fair Hope that the lover so fondly believes | K |
Then repeated each soul soothing speech | L |
And touch'd with illusion that often deceives | K |
The future with light as the sun through the leaves | K |
Illumines the boughs of the beech | L |
But once more the tempests of chill winter blow | H |
To depress and disfigure the earth | M |
And now ere the dawn the young woodman must go | H |
To his work in the forest half buried in snow | H |
And at night bring home wood for the hearth | N |
- | |
The bridge on the heath by the flood was wash'd down | D |
And fast fell the sleet and the rain | O |
The stream to a wild rapid river was grown | C |
And long might the widow sit sighing alone | C |
Ere sweet Phoebe could see her again | P |
At the town was a market and now for supplies | K |
Such as needed her humble abode | A |
Young William went forth and his mother with sighs | K |
Watch'd long at the window with tears in her eyes | K |
Till he turn'd through the fields to the road | A |
Then darkness came on and she heard with affright | A |
The wind every moment more high | Q |
She look'd from the door not a star lent its light | A |
But the tempest redoubled the gloom of the night | A |
And the rain pour'd in sheets from the sky | Q |
The clock in her cottage now mournfully told | A |
The hours that went heavily on | R |
'Twas midnight her spirits sank hopeless and cold | A |
And it seem'd as each blast of wind fearfully told | A |
That long long would her William be gone | S |
Then heart sick and cold to her sad bed she crept | A |
Yet first made up the fire in the room | T |
To guide his dark steps but she listen'd and wept | A |
Or if for a moment forgetful she slept | A |
Soon she started and thought he was come | U |
'Twas morn and the wind with a hoarse sullen moan | C |
Now seem'd dying away in the wood | A |
When the poor wretched mother still drooping alone | C |
Beheld on the threshold a figure unknown | C |
In gorgeous apparel who stood | A |
'Your son is a soldier ' abruptly cried he | V |
'And a place in our corps has obtain'd | A |
Nay be not cast down you perhaps may soon see | V |
Your William a captain he now sends by me | V |
The purse he already has gain'd ' | - |
- | |
So William entrapp'd 'twixt persuasion and force | K |
Is embark'd for the isles of the West | A |
But he seem'd to begin with ill omens his course | K |
And felt recollection regret and remorse | K |
Continually weigh on his breast | A |
With useless repentance he eagerly eyed | A |
The high coast as it faded from view | F |
And saw the green hills on whose northernmost side | A |
Was his own silvan home and he falter'd and cried | A |
'Adieu ah for ever adieu | F |
'Who now my poor mother thy life shall sustain | O |
Since thy son has thus left thee forlorn | W |
Ah canst thou forgive me And not in the pain | O |
Of this cruel desertion of William complain | O |
And lament that he ever was born | W |
'Sweet Phoebe if ever thy lover was dear | E |
Now forsake not the cottage of woe | H |
But comfort my mother and quiet her fear | E |
And help her to dry up the vain fruitless tear | X |
That too long for my absence will flow | H |
'Yet what if my Phoebe another should wed | A |
And lament her lost William no more ' | - |
The thought was too cruel and anguish now sped | A |
The dart of disease With the brave numerous dead | A |
He has fall'n on the plague tainted shore | Y |
In the lone village church yard the chancel wall near | E |
High grass now waves over the spot | A |
Where the mother of William unable to bear | X |
His loss who to her widow'd heart was so dear | E |
Has both him and her sorrows forgot | A |
By the brook where it winds through the wood of Arbeal | H |
Or amid the deep forest to moan | C |
The poor wandering Phoebe will silently steal | H |
The pain of her bosom no reason can heal | H |
And she loves to indulge it alone | C |
- | |
Her senses are injured her eyes dim with tears | K |
She sits by the river and weaves | K |
Reed garlands against her dear William appears | K |
Then breathlessly listens and fancies she hears | K |
His step in the half wither'd leaves | K |
Ah such are the miseries to which ye give birth | M |
Ye statesmen ne'er dreading a scar | Z |
Who from pictured saloon or the bright sculptured hearth | N |
Disperse desolation and death through the earth | M |
When ye let loose the demons of war | Y |
Charlotte Smith
(1)
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