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 AAAAAAB3Z3AA

OR THE FLOWER OF THE WILDERNESSA
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Here on the arid ridgeB
Of dead VesuviusA
Exterminator terribleC
That by no other tree or flower is cheeredD
Thou scatterest thy lonely leaves aroundE
O fragrant flowerF
With desert wastes content Thy graceful stemsG
I in the solitary paths have foundE
The city that surroundE
That once was mistress of the worldH
And of her fallen powerF
They seemed with silent eloquence to speakI
Unto the thoughtful wandererF
And now again I see thee on this soilJ
Of wretched world abandoned spots the friendK
Of ruined fortunes the companion stillL
These fields with barren ashes strownM
And lava hardened into stoneM
Beneath the pilgrim's feet that hollow soundE
Where by their nests the serpents coiledN
Lie basking in the sunM
And where the conies timidlyO
To their familiar burrows runM
Were cheerful villages and townsP
With waving fields of golden grainM
And musical with lowing herdsQ
Were gardens and were palacesR
That to the leisure of the richS
A grateful shelter gaveT
Were famous cities which the mountain fierceU
Forth darting torrents from his mouth of flameV
Destroyed with their inhabitantsW
Now all around one ruin liesX
Where thou dost dwell O gentle flowerF
And as in pity of another's woeY
A perfume sweet thou dost exhaleZ
To heaven an offeringA2
And consolation to the desert bringA2
Here let him come who hath been usedB2
To chant the praises of our mortal stateC2
And see the careD2
That loving Nature of her children takesE2
Here may he justly estimateF2
The power of mortals whomG2
The cruel nurse when least they fearH2
With motion light can in a moment crushI2
In part and afterwards when in the moodJ2
With motion not so light can suddenlyO
And utterly annihilateC2
Here on these blighted coastsK2
May he distinctly traceL2
'The princely progress of the human race '-
-
Here look and in a mirror see thyselfT
O proud and foolish ageM2
That turn'st thy back upon the pathN2
That thought revivedO2
So clearly indicates to allP2
And this thy movement retrogradeQ2
Dost Progress callP2
Thy foolish prattle all the mindsR2
Whose cruel fate thee for a father gaveT
Besmear with flatteryO
Although among themselves at timesS2
They laugh at theeO
But I will not to such low arts descendK
Though envy it would be for meO
The rest to imitateC2
And raving wilfullyO
To make my song more pleasing to thy earsT2
But I will sooner far revealU2
As clearly as I can the deep disdainM
That I for thee within my bosom feelU2
Although I know oblivionM
Awaits the man who holds his age in scornM
But this misfortune which I share with theeO
My laughter only movesV2
Thou dream'st of libertyO
And yet thou wouldst anew that thought enslaveT
By which alone we are redeemed in partW2
From barbarism by which aloneM
True progress is obtainedX2
And states are guided to a nobler endK
And so the truth of our hard lotY2
And of the humble placeL2
Which Nature gave us pleased thee notY2
And like a coward thou hast turned thy backZ2
Upon the light which made it evidentA3
Reviling him who does that light pursueB3
And praising him aloneM
Who in his folly or from motives baseL2
Above the stars exalts the human raceL2
-
A man of poor estate and weak of limbC3
But of a generous truthful soulD3
Nor calls nor deems himselfT
A Croesus or a HerculesE3
Nor makes himself ridiculousA
Before the world with vain pretenceA
Of vigor or of opulenceA
But his infirmities and needsA
He lets appear and without shameV
And speaking frankly calls each thingA2
By its right nameV
I deem not him magnanimousA
But simply a great foolF3
Who born to perish reared in sufferingA2
Proclaims his lot a happy oneM
And with offensive prideG3
His pages fills exalted destiniesA
And joys unknown in heaven much lessA
On earth absurdly promising to thoseA
Who by a wave of angry seaA
Or breath of tainted airD2
Or shaking of the earth beneathH3
Are ruined crushed so utterlyA
As scarce to be recalled by memoryA
But truly noble wise is heA
Who bids his brethren boldly lookI3
Upon our common miseryA
Who frankly tells the naked truthJ3
Acknowledging our frail and wretched stateC2
And all the ills decreed to us by FateC2
Who shows himself in suffering brave and strongK3
Nor adds unto his miseriesA
Fraternal jealousies and strifesA
The hardest things to bear of allP2
Reproaching man with his own griefT
But the true culpritL3
Who in our birth a mother isA
A fierce step mother in her willL
Her he proclaims the enemyA
And thinking all the human raceA
Against her armed as is the caseA
E'en from the first united and arrayedQ2
All men esteems confederatesA
And with true love embraces allP2
Prompt and efficient aid bestowing andM3
Expecting it in all the painsA
And perils of the common warN3
And to resent with arms all injuriesA
Or snares and pit falls for a neighbor layO3
Absurd he deems as it would be uponM
The field surrounded by the enemyA
The foe forgetting bitter warN3
With one's own friends to wageM2
And in the hottest of the fightP3
With cruel and misguided swordQ3
One's fellow soldiers put to flightP3
When truths like these are rendered clearH2
As once they were unto the multitudeJ2
And when that fear which from the firstR3
All mortals in a social bandS3
Against inhuman Nature joinedT3
Anew shall guided be in partW2
By knowledge true then social intercourseA
And faith and hope and charityA
Will a far different foundation haveT
From that which silly fables giveT
By which supported public truth and goodU3
Must still proceed with an unstable footV3
As all things that in error have their rootW3
Oft on these hills so desolateF2
Which by the hardened floodX3
That seems in waves to riseA
Are clad in mourning do I sit at nightP3
And o'er the dreary plain beholdY3
The stars above in purest azure shineM
And in the ocean mirrored from afarZ3
And all the world in brilliant sparks arrayedQ2
Revolving through the vault sereneM
And when my eyes I fasten on those lightsA
Which seem to them a pointA4
And yet are so immenseA
That earth and sea with them comparedB4
Are but a point indeedC4
To whom not only manM
But this our globe where man is nothing isA
Unknown and when I farther gaze uponM
Those clustered stars at distance infiniteF2
That seem to us like mist to whomG2
Not only man and earth but all our starsA
At once so vast in numbers and in bulkD4
The golden sun himself included areZ3
Unknown or else appear as they to earthE4
A point of nebulous light what thenM
Dost thou unto my thought appearH2
O race of menM
Remembering thy wretched state belowY
Of which the soil I tread the token bearsA
And on the other handS3
That thou thyself hast deemedF4
The Lord and end of all the UniverseA
How oft thou hast been pleasedG4
The idle tale to tellH4
That to this little grain of sand obscureI4
The name of earth that bearsA
The Authors of that UniverseA
Have at thy call descended oftJ4
And pleasant converse with thy children hadK4
And how these foolish dreams reviving e'enM
This age its insults heaps upon the wiseA
Although it seems all others to excelH4
In learning and in arts politeP3
What can I think of theeA
Thou wretched race of menM
What thoughts discordant then my heart assailZ
In doubt if scorn or pity should prevailZ
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As a small apple falling from a treeA
In autumn by the forceA
Of its own ripeness to the groundE
The pleasant homes of a communityA
Of ants in the soft clodA
With careful labor builtA
And all their works and all the wealthL4
Which the industrious citizensA
Had in the summer providently storedA
Lays waste destroys and in an instant hidesA
So falling from on highT
To heaven forth darted fromM4
The mountain's groaning wombG2
A dark destructive massA
Of ashes pumice and of stonesA
With boiling streams of lava mixedA
Or down the mountain's sideA
Descending furious o'er the grassA
A fearful floodA
Of melted metals mixed with burning sandA
Laid waste destroyed and in short time concealedA
The cities on yon shore washed by the seaA
Where now the goatsA
On this side browse and cities newB3
Upon the other stand whose foot stools areZ3
The buried ones whose prostrate wallsA
The loftA

Count Giacomo Leopardi



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