The Ginestra, Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BACDEFGEEHFIFJKLMMEN MOMPMQRSTUVWXFYZA2A2 B2C2D2E2F2G2H2I2J2OC 2K2L2 TM2N2O2P2Q2P2R2TOS2O KOC2OT2U2MU2MMOV2OTW 2MX2KY2L2Y2Z2A3B3ML2 L2 C3D3TE3AAAAVA2VAF3A2 MG3AAAAD2H3AAAI3AJ3C 2C2K3AAP2TL3ALAAAQ2A P2M3AN3AO3MAN3M2P3Q3 P3H2J2R3S3T3W2AATTU3 V3W3F2X3AP3Y3MZ3Q2MA A4AB4C4MAMF2G2AD4Z3E 4MH2MYAS3F4AG4H4I4AA J4K4MAH4P3AMZZ AAEAAAL4AAATM4G2AAAA AAAAAAB3Z3AAOR THE FLOWER OF THE WILDERNESS | A |
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Here on the arid ridge | B |
Of dead Vesuvius | A |
Exterminator terrible | C |
That by no other tree or flower is cheered | D |
Thou scatterest thy lonely leaves around | E |
O fragrant flower | F |
With desert wastes content Thy graceful stems | G |
I in the solitary paths have found | E |
The city that surround | E |
That once was mistress of the world | H |
And of her fallen power | F |
They seemed with silent eloquence to speak | I |
Unto the thoughtful wanderer | F |
And now again I see thee on this soil | J |
Of wretched world abandoned spots the friend | K |
Of ruined fortunes the companion still | L |
These fields with barren ashes strown | M |
And lava hardened into stone | M |
Beneath the pilgrim's feet that hollow sound | E |
Where by their nests the serpents coiled | N |
Lie basking in the sun | M |
And where the conies timidly | O |
To their familiar burrows run | M |
Were cheerful villages and towns | P |
With waving fields of golden grain | M |
And musical with lowing herds | Q |
Were gardens and were palaces | R |
That to the leisure of the rich | S |
A grateful shelter gave | T |
Were famous cities which the mountain fierce | U |
Forth darting torrents from his mouth of flame | V |
Destroyed with their inhabitants | W |
Now all around one ruin lies | X |
Where thou dost dwell O gentle flower | F |
And as in pity of another's woe | Y |
A perfume sweet thou dost exhale | Z |
To heaven an offering | A2 |
And consolation to the desert bring | A2 |
Here let him come who hath been used | B2 |
To chant the praises of our mortal state | C2 |
And see the care | D2 |
That loving Nature of her children takes | E2 |
Here may he justly estimate | F2 |
The power of mortals whom | G2 |
The cruel nurse when least they fear | H2 |
With motion light can in a moment crush | I2 |
In part and afterwards when in the mood | J2 |
With motion not so light can suddenly | O |
And utterly annihilate | C2 |
Here on these blighted coasts | K2 |
May he distinctly trace | L2 |
'The princely progress of the human race ' | - |
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Here look and in a mirror see thyself | T |
O proud and foolish age | M2 |
That turn'st thy back upon the path | N2 |
That thought revived | O2 |
So clearly indicates to all | P2 |
And this thy movement retrograde | Q2 |
Dost Progress call | P2 |
Thy foolish prattle all the minds | R2 |
Whose cruel fate thee for a father gave | T |
Besmear with flattery | O |
Although among themselves at times | S2 |
They laugh at thee | O |
But I will not to such low arts descend | K |
Though envy it would be for me | O |
The rest to imitate | C2 |
And raving wilfully | O |
To make my song more pleasing to thy ears | T2 |
But I will sooner far reveal | U2 |
As clearly as I can the deep disdain | M |
That I for thee within my bosom feel | U2 |
Although I know oblivion | M |
Awaits the man who holds his age in scorn | M |
But this misfortune which I share with thee | O |
My laughter only moves | V2 |
Thou dream'st of liberty | O |
And yet thou wouldst anew that thought enslave | T |
By which alone we are redeemed in part | W2 |
From barbarism by which alone | M |
True progress is obtained | X2 |
And states are guided to a nobler end | K |
And so the truth of our hard lot | Y2 |
And of the humble place | L2 |
Which Nature gave us pleased thee not | Y2 |
And like a coward thou hast turned thy back | Z2 |
Upon the light which made it evident | A3 |
Reviling him who does that light pursue | B3 |
And praising him alone | M |
Who in his folly or from motives base | L2 |
Above the stars exalts the human race | L2 |
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A man of poor estate and weak of limb | C3 |
But of a generous truthful soul | D3 |
Nor calls nor deems himself | T |
A Croesus or a Hercules | E3 |
Nor makes himself ridiculous | A |
Before the world with vain pretence | A |
Of vigor or of opulence | A |
But his infirmities and needs | A |
He lets appear and without shame | V |
And speaking frankly calls each thing | A2 |
By its right name | V |
I deem not him magnanimous | A |
But simply a great fool | F3 |
Who born to perish reared in suffering | A2 |
Proclaims his lot a happy one | M |
And with offensive pride | G3 |
His pages fills exalted destinies | A |
And joys unknown in heaven much less | A |
On earth absurdly promising to those | A |
Who by a wave of angry sea | A |
Or breath of tainted air | D2 |
Or shaking of the earth beneath | H3 |
Are ruined crushed so utterly | A |
As scarce to be recalled by memory | A |
But truly noble wise is he | A |
Who bids his brethren boldly look | I3 |
Upon our common misery | A |
Who frankly tells the naked truth | J3 |
Acknowledging our frail and wretched state | C2 |
And all the ills decreed to us by Fate | C2 |
Who shows himself in suffering brave and strong | K3 |
Nor adds unto his miseries | A |
Fraternal jealousies and strifes | A |
The hardest things to bear of all | P2 |
Reproaching man with his own grief | T |
But the true culprit | L3 |
Who in our birth a mother is | A |
A fierce step mother in her will | L |
Her he proclaims the enemy | A |
And thinking all the human race | A |
Against her armed as is the case | A |
E'en from the first united and arrayed | Q2 |
All men esteems confederates | A |
And with true love embraces all | P2 |
Prompt and efficient aid bestowing and | M3 |
Expecting it in all the pains | A |
And perils of the common war | N3 |
And to resent with arms all injuries | A |
Or snares and pit falls for a neighbor lay | O3 |
Absurd he deems as it would be upon | M |
The field surrounded by the enemy | A |
The foe forgetting bitter war | N3 |
With one's own friends to wage | M2 |
And in the hottest of the fight | P3 |
With cruel and misguided sword | Q3 |
One's fellow soldiers put to flight | P3 |
When truths like these are rendered clear | H2 |
As once they were unto the multitude | J2 |
And when that fear which from the first | R3 |
All mortals in a social band | S3 |
Against inhuman Nature joined | T3 |
Anew shall guided be in part | W2 |
By knowledge true then social intercourse | A |
And faith and hope and charity | A |
Will a far different foundation have | T |
From that which silly fables give | T |
By which supported public truth and good | U3 |
Must still proceed with an unstable foot | V3 |
As all things that in error have their root | W3 |
Oft on these hills so desolate | F2 |
Which by the hardened flood | X3 |
That seems in waves to rise | A |
Are clad in mourning do I sit at night | P3 |
And o'er the dreary plain behold | Y3 |
The stars above in purest azure shine | M |
And in the ocean mirrored from afar | Z3 |
And all the world in brilliant sparks arrayed | Q2 |
Revolving through the vault serene | M |
And when my eyes I fasten on those lights | A |
Which seem to them a point | A4 |
And yet are so immense | A |
That earth and sea with them compared | B4 |
Are but a point indeed | C4 |
To whom not only man | M |
But this our globe where man is nothing is | A |
Unknown and when I farther gaze upon | M |
Those clustered stars at distance infinite | F2 |
That seem to us like mist to whom | G2 |
Not only man and earth but all our stars | A |
At once so vast in numbers and in bulk | D4 |
The golden sun himself included are | Z3 |
Unknown or else appear as they to earth | E4 |
A point of nebulous light what then | M |
Dost thou unto my thought appear | H2 |
O race of men | M |
Remembering thy wretched state below | Y |
Of which the soil I tread the token bears | A |
And on the other hand | S3 |
That thou thyself hast deemed | F4 |
The Lord and end of all the Universe | A |
How oft thou hast been pleased | G4 |
The idle tale to tell | H4 |
That to this little grain of sand obscure | I4 |
The name of earth that bears | A |
The Authors of that Universe | A |
Have at thy call descended oft | J4 |
And pleasant converse with thy children had | K4 |
And how these foolish dreams reviving e'en | M |
This age its insults heaps upon the wise | A |
Although it seems all others to excel | H4 |
In learning and in arts polite | P3 |
What can I think of thee | A |
Thou wretched race of men | M |
What thoughts discordant then my heart assail | Z |
In doubt if scorn or pity should prevail | Z |
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As a small apple falling from a tree | A |
In autumn by the force | A |
Of its own ripeness to the ground | E |
The pleasant homes of a community | A |
Of ants in the soft clod | A |
With careful labor built | A |
And all their works and all the wealth | L4 |
Which the industrious citizens | A |
Had in the summer providently stored | A |
Lays waste destroys and in an instant hides | A |
So falling from on high | T |
To heaven forth darted from | M4 |
The mountain's groaning womb | G2 |
A dark destructive mass | A |
Of ashes pumice and of stones | A |
With boiling streams of lava mixed | A |
Or down the mountain's side | A |
Descending furious o'er the grass | A |
A fearful flood | A |
Of melted metals mixed with burning sand | A |
Laid waste destroyed and in short time concealed | A |
The cities on yon shore washed by the sea | A |
Where now the goats | A |
On this side browse and cities new | B3 |
Upon the other stand whose foot stools are | Z3 |
The buried ones whose prostrate walls | A |
The loft | A |
Count Giacomo Leopardi
(1)
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