The Younger Brutus Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHHIJKLMM NOPQRSTUVWQXMYYBZA2B MBEBB2C2D2E2F2G2G2 A2A2BG2A2A2H2A2A2CI2 A2J2A2A2 K2A2A2L2A2M2A2N2O2P2 EMBAA A2Q2AA2A2R2S2CBA2CT2 YU2U2 A2V2V2W2X2Y2Z2A3A3B3 S2A2V2A2C3RBWA2D3BE3 A2A2F3A2EA2M

When in the Thracian dust uprooted layA
In ruin vast the strength of ItalyB
And Fate had doomed Hesperia's valleys greenC
And Tiber's shoresD
The trampling of barbarian steeds to feelE
And from the leafless grovesF
On which the Northern Bear looks downG
Had called the Gothic hordesH
That Rome's proud walls might fall before their swordsH
Exhausted wet with brothers' bloodI
Alone sat Brutus in the dismal nightJ
Resolved on death the gods implacableK
Of heaven and hell he chidesL
And smites the listless drowsy airM
With his fierce cries of anger and despairM
-
'O foolish virtue empty mistsN
The realms of shadows are thy schoolsO
And at thy heels repentance follows fastP
To you ye marble godsQ
If ye in Phlegethon reside or dwellR
Above the clouds a mockery and scornS
Is the unhappy raceT
Of whom you temples askU
And fraudulent the law that you imposeV
Say then does earthly piety provokeW
The anger of the godsQ
O Jove dost thou protect the impiousX
And when the storm cloud rushes through the airM
And thou thy thunderbolts dost aimY
Against the just dost thou impel the sacred flameY
Unconquered Fate and stern necessityB
Oppress the feeble slaves of DeathZ
Unable to avert their injuriesA2
The common herd endure them patientlyB
But is the ill less hard to bearM
Because it has no remedyB
Does he who knows no hope no sorrow feelE
The hero wages war with theeB
Eternal deadly war ungracious FateB2
And knows not how to yield and thy right handC2
Imperious proudly shaking offD2
E'en when it weighs upon him mostE2
Though conquered is triumphant stillF2
When his sharp sword inflicts the fatal blowG2
And seeks with haughty smile the shades belowG2
-
'Who storms the gates of TartarusA2
Offends the godsA2
Such valor does not suit forsoothB
Their soft eternal bosoms noG2
Or are our toils and miseriesA2
And all the anguish of our heartsA2
A pleasant sport their leisure to beguileH2
Yet no such life of crime and wretchednessA2
But pure and free as her own woods and fieldsA2
Nature to us prescribed a queenC
And goddess once Since impious custom nowI2
Her happy realm hath scattered to the windsA2
And other laws on this poor life imposedJ2
Will Nature of fool hardiness accuseA2
The manly souls who such a life refuseA2
-
'Of crime and their own sufferings ignorantK2
Serene old age the beasts conductsA2
Unto the death they ne'er foreseeA2
But if by misery impelled they soughtL2
To dash their heads against the rugged treeA2
Or plunging headlong from the lofty rockM2
Their limbs to scatter to the windsA2
No law mysterious misconception darkN2
Would the sad wish refuse to grantO2
Of all that breathe the breath of lifeP2
You only children of Prometheus feelE
That life a burden hard to bearM
Yet would you seek the silent shores of deathB
If sluggish fate the boon delayA
To you alone stern Jove forbids the wayA
-
'And thou white moon art rising from the seaA2
That with our blood is stainedQ2
The troubled night dost thou surveyA
And field so fatal unto ItalyA2
On brothers' breasts the conqueror treadsA2
The hills with fear are thrilledR2
From her proud heights Rome totters to her fallS2
And smilest thou upon the dismal sceneC
Lavinia's children from their birthB
And all their prosperous yearsA2
And well earned laurels hast thou seenC
And thou wilt smile with ray unchangedT2
Upon the Alps when bowed with grief and shameY
The haughty city desolate and loneU2
Beneath the tread of Gothic hordes shall groanU2
-
'Behold amid the naked rocksA2
Or on the verdant bough the beast and birdV2
Whose breasts are ne'er by thought or memory stirredV2
Of the vast ruin take no heedW2
Or of the altered fortunes of the worldX2
And when the humble herdsman's cotY2
Is tinted with the earliest rays of dawnZ2
The one will wake the valleys with his songA3
The other o'er the cliffs the frightened throngA3
Of smaller beasts before him driveB3
O foolish race Most wretched we of allS2
Nor are these blood stained fieldsA2
These caverns that our groans have heardV2
Regardful of our miseryA2
Nor shines one star less brightly in the skyC3
Not the deaf kings of heaven or hellR
Or the unworthy earthB
Or night do I in death invokeW
Or thee last gleam the dying hour that cheersA2
The voice of coming ages I no tombD3
Desire to be with sobs disturbed or withB
The words and gifts of wretched fools adornedE3
The times grow worse and worseA2
And who unto a vile posterityA2
The honor of great souls would trustF3
Or fit atonement for their wrongsA2
Then let the birds of prey around me wheelE
And let my wretched corpseA2
The lightning blast the wild beast tearM
And let my name and memory melt in air '-

Count Giacomo Leopardi



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