The Younger Brutus Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHHIJKLMM NOPQRSTUVWQXMYYBZA2B MBEBB2C2D2E2F2G2G2 A2A2BG2A2A2H2A2A2CI2 A2J2A2A2 K2A2A2L2A2M2A2N2O2P2 EMBAA A2Q2AA2A2R2S2CBA2CT2 YU2U2 A2V2V2W2X2Y2Z2A3A3B3 S2A2V2A2C3RBWA2D3BE3 A2A2F3A2EA2MWhen in the Thracian dust uprooted lay | A |
In ruin vast the strength of Italy | B |
And Fate had doomed Hesperia's valleys green | C |
And Tiber's shores | D |
The trampling of barbarian steeds to feel | E |
And from the leafless groves | F |
On which the Northern Bear looks down | G |
Had called the Gothic hordes | H |
That Rome's proud walls might fall before their swords | H |
Exhausted wet with brothers' blood | I |
Alone sat Brutus in the dismal night | J |
Resolved on death the gods implacable | K |
Of heaven and hell he chides | L |
And smites the listless drowsy air | M |
With his fierce cries of anger and despair | M |
- | |
'O foolish virtue empty mists | N |
The realms of shadows are thy schools | O |
And at thy heels repentance follows fast | P |
To you ye marble gods | Q |
If ye in Phlegethon reside or dwell | R |
Above the clouds a mockery and scorn | S |
Is the unhappy race | T |
Of whom you temples ask | U |
And fraudulent the law that you impose | V |
Say then does earthly piety provoke | W |
The anger of the gods | Q |
O Jove dost thou protect the impious | X |
And when the storm cloud rushes through the air | M |
And thou thy thunderbolts dost aim | Y |
Against the just dost thou impel the sacred flame | Y |
Unconquered Fate and stern necessity | B |
Oppress the feeble slaves of Death | Z |
Unable to avert their injuries | A2 |
The common herd endure them patiently | B |
But is the ill less hard to bear | M |
Because it has no remedy | B |
Does he who knows no hope no sorrow feel | E |
The hero wages war with thee | B |
Eternal deadly war ungracious Fate | B2 |
And knows not how to yield and thy right hand | C2 |
Imperious proudly shaking off | D2 |
E'en when it weighs upon him most | E2 |
Though conquered is triumphant still | F2 |
When his sharp sword inflicts the fatal blow | G2 |
And seeks with haughty smile the shades below | G2 |
- | |
'Who storms the gates of Tartarus | A2 |
Offends the gods | A2 |
Such valor does not suit forsooth | B |
Their soft eternal bosoms no | G2 |
Or are our toils and miseries | A2 |
And all the anguish of our hearts | A2 |
A pleasant sport their leisure to beguile | H2 |
Yet no such life of crime and wretchedness | A2 |
But pure and free as her own woods and fields | A2 |
Nature to us prescribed a queen | C |
And goddess once Since impious custom now | I2 |
Her happy realm hath scattered to the winds | A2 |
And other laws on this poor life imposed | J2 |
Will Nature of fool hardiness accuse | A2 |
The manly souls who such a life refuse | A2 |
- | |
'Of crime and their own sufferings ignorant | K2 |
Serene old age the beasts conducts | A2 |
Unto the death they ne'er foresee | A2 |
But if by misery impelled they sought | L2 |
To dash their heads against the rugged tree | A2 |
Or plunging headlong from the lofty rock | M2 |
Their limbs to scatter to the winds | A2 |
No law mysterious misconception dark | N2 |
Would the sad wish refuse to grant | O2 |
Of all that breathe the breath of life | P2 |
You only children of Prometheus feel | E |
That life a burden hard to bear | M |
Yet would you seek the silent shores of death | B |
If sluggish fate the boon delay | A |
To you alone stern Jove forbids the way | A |
- | |
'And thou white moon art rising from the sea | A2 |
That with our blood is stained | Q2 |
The troubled night dost thou survey | A |
And field so fatal unto Italy | A2 |
On brothers' breasts the conqueror treads | A2 |
The hills with fear are thrilled | R2 |
From her proud heights Rome totters to her fall | S2 |
And smilest thou upon the dismal scene | C |
Lavinia's children from their birth | B |
And all their prosperous years | A2 |
And well earned laurels hast thou seen | C |
And thou wilt smile with ray unchanged | T2 |
Upon the Alps when bowed with grief and shame | Y |
The haughty city desolate and lone | U2 |
Beneath the tread of Gothic hordes shall groan | U2 |
- | |
'Behold amid the naked rocks | A2 |
Or on the verdant bough the beast and bird | V2 |
Whose breasts are ne'er by thought or memory stirred | V2 |
Of the vast ruin take no heed | W2 |
Or of the altered fortunes of the world | X2 |
And when the humble herdsman's cot | Y2 |
Is tinted with the earliest rays of dawn | Z2 |
The one will wake the valleys with his song | A3 |
The other o'er the cliffs the frightened throng | A3 |
Of smaller beasts before him drive | B3 |
O foolish race Most wretched we of all | S2 |
Nor are these blood stained fields | A2 |
These caverns that our groans have heard | V2 |
Regardful of our misery | A2 |
Nor shines one star less brightly in the sky | C3 |
Not the deaf kings of heaven or hell | R |
Or the unworthy earth | B |
Or night do I in death invoke | W |
Or thee last gleam the dying hour that cheers | A2 |
The voice of coming ages I no tomb | D3 |
Desire to be with sobs disturbed or with | B |
The words and gifts of wretched fools adorned | E3 |
The times grow worse and worse | A2 |
And who unto a vile posterity | A2 |
The honor of great souls would trust | F3 |
Or fit atonement for their wrongs | A2 |
Then let the birds of prey around me wheel | E |
And let my wretched corpse | A2 |
The lightning blast the wild beast tear | M |
And let my name and memory melt in air ' | - |
Count Giacomo Leopardi
(1)
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