The Wars And The Unknown Soldier Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHI FHJK JLMHMMG NOPHQ JFROJRRNSRFRHFFDJ ATGUJ RRCOFFD HRRVV FWRFTHJ TXRRFRFFDRFCJFR JTYZA2 JCCTGFTB2

IA
Dry leaves soldier dry leaves dead leavesB
voices of leaves on the wind that bears them toC
destructionD
impassioned prayer impassioned hymn of delightE
of the gladly doomed to die Stridor of beastsF
stridor of men praises of lust and battleG
numberless as waves the waves singingH
to the wind that bears them downI
-
Under OsirisF
him of the Egyptian priests Osynmandyas the KingH
easward into Asia we passed swarmed over BactriaJ
three thousand years before ChristK
-
The history of warJ
is the history of mankindL
So many deadM
look at them there in the dark look at them goingH
the longest parade of all the parade of the deadM
between then and now seven thousand million deadM
dead on the filed of battleG
-
The people which is not readyN
to guard its gods and its household gods with theO
swordP
who knows but it will find itself with nothingH
save honour to defendQ
-
Consider soldierJ
whatever name you go by doughboy dogfaceF
marine or tommy God's mercenary consider our lotR
in the days if the single combat You have been seen on theO
seashoreJ
In the offshore wind blown backward a wavecrestR
windwhipped and quivering borne helpless andR
brieflyN
to fall underfoot of an oncoming seawall foamS
smotheredR
once more to recede wind thwarted again thusF
deathwardR
the battle lines whelmed and divided The darklingH
battalionsF
locked arms in chaos the bravest the heroesF
kept in the forefront' and this line once brokenD
our army was done forJ
-
IIA
In the new city of marble and bright stoneT
the city named for a captain in the capitalG
under the solemn echoing dome in the still tombU
lies an unknown soldierJ
-
In the brown cityR
old and shabby by the muddy Thames in the gauntR
avenueC
where Romans blessed with Latin the oyster and theO
primroseF
the stone shaft speaks of another Those who passF
bare their heads in the rain pausing to listenD
-
Across grey water red poppies on cliffs and chalkH
Hidden under the arch in the city of lightR
the city beloved of Abelard rests a thirdR
nameless as those but the fluttering flameV
substituting for a nameV
-
Three unknown soldiersF
three let us say out of many On the proud archW
names shine like stars the names of battles andR
victoriesF
but never the name of the man you the unknownT
Down there runs the river under dark walls of rockH
parapets of rock stone steps that green to the waterJ
-
There they fished up in the twilight another unknownT
the one they callX
L'Inconnue de la SeineR
drownedR
handsF
drowned hair drowned eyes masked like marble sheR
listensF
to the drip drop secret of silence and the pale eyelidsF
enclose and disclose what they know the illusionD
found like fire under Lethe Devotion here saintedR
the love here deathless The strong purpose turnsF
from the daggered lamplight from the little light toC
the lesserJ
from stone to stone stepping from the nex to the lasyF
heartbeat and footstep even to the sacred to the lastR
-
Love devotion sacrifice death can we call herJ
unknownT
who has not unknown to herself more Whose loveY
lives stillZ
as if death itself were alive and divineA2
-
And you the soldierJ
you who are dead is it not so with youC
Love devotion sacrifice death can we call youC
unknownT
you who knew what you did The soldier is crystalG
crystal of man clear heart clear duty clear purposeF
No soldier can be unknown Only he is unknownT
who is unknown to himselfB2

Conrad Potter Aiken



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