The Ship Of Death Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BC DE FGH A DG IJ KGLMK A NO NPK QN P RSK N P NC TD UGK VKK WXC P LK YKZ YKA2P P DB2P C2KL KLD2KKE2VF2G2 RH2A2I2J2K2PL2M2M2 P K2K2QB2K2 C K N2KN2W O2QK2PC B2P2K2 RK Q2 K FPYA2Q2K KC GGDI | A |
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Now it is autumn and the falling fruit | B |
and the long journey towards oblivion | C |
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The apples falling like great drops of dew | D |
to bruise themselves an exit from themselves | E |
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And it is time to go to bid farewell | F |
to one's own self and find an exit | G |
from the fallen self | H |
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II | A |
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Have you built your ship of death O have you | D |
O build your ship of death for you will need it | G |
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The grim frost is at hand when the apples will fall | I |
thick almost thundrous on the hardened earth | J |
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And death is on the air like a smell of ashes | K |
Ah can't you smell it | G |
And in the bruised body the frightened soul | L |
finds itself shrinking wincing from the cold | M |
that blows upon it through the orifices | K |
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III | A |
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And can a man his own quietus make | N |
with a bare bodkin | O |
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With daggers bodkins bullets man can make | N |
a bruise or break of exit for his life | P |
but is that a quietus O tell me is it quietus | K |
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Surely not so for how could murder even self murder | Q |
ever a quietus make | N |
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IV | P |
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O let us talk of quiet that we know | R |
that we can know the deep and lovely quiet | S |
of a strong heart at peace | K |
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How can we this our own quietus make | N |
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V | P |
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Build then the ship of death for you must take | N |
the longest journey to oblivion | C |
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And die the death the long and painful death | T |
that lies between the old self and the new | D |
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Already our bodies are fallen bruised badly bruised | U |
already our souls are oozing through the exit | G |
of the cruel bruise | K |
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Already the dark and endless ocean of the end | V |
is washing in through the breaches of our wounds | K |
Already the flood is upon us | K |
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Oh build your ship of death your little ark | W |
and furnish it with food with little cakes and wine | X |
for the dark flight down oblivion | C |
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VI | P |
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Piecemeal the body dies and the timid soul | L |
has her footing washed away as the dark flood rises | K |
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We are dying we are dying we are all of us dying | Y |
and nothing will stay the death flood rising within us | K |
and soon it will rise on the world on the outside world | Z |
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We are dying we are dying piecemeal our bodies are dying | Y |
and our strength leaves us | K |
and our soul cowers naked in the dark rain over the flood | A2 |
cowering in the last branches of the tree of our life | P |
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VII | P |
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We are dying we are dying so all we can do | D |
is now to be willing to die and to build the ship | B2 |
of death to carry the soul on the longest journey | P |
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A little ship with oars and food | C2 |
and little dishes and all accoutrements | K |
fitting and ready for the departing soul | L |
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Now launch the small ship now as the body dies | K |
and life departs launch out the fragile soul | L |
in the fragile ship of courage the ark of faith | D2 |
with its store of food and little cooking pans | K |
and change of clothes | K |
upon the flood's black waste | E2 |
upon the waters of the end | V |
upon the sea of death where still we sail | F2 |
darkly for we cannot steer and have no port | G2 |
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There is no port there is nowhere to go | R |
only the deepening blackness darkening still | H2 |
blacker upon the soundless ungurgling flood | A2 |
darkness at one with darkness up and down | I2 |
and sideways utterly dark so there is no direction any more | J2 |
and the little ship is there yet she is gone | K2 |
She is not seen for there is nothing to see her by | P |
She is gone gone and yet | L2 |
somewhere she is there | M2 |
Nowhere | M2 |
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VIII | P |
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And everything is gone the body is gone | K2 |
completely under gone entirely gone | K2 |
The upper darkness is heavy as the lower | Q |
between them the little ship | B2 |
is gone | K2 |
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It is the end it is oblivion | C |
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IX | K |
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And yet out of eternity a thread | N2 |
separates itself on the blackness | K |
a horizontal thread | N2 |
that fumes a little with pallor upon the dark | W |
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Is it illusion or does the pallor fume | O2 |
A little higher | Q |
Ah wait wait for there's the dawn | K2 |
the cruel dawn of coming back to life | P |
out of oblivion | C |
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Wait wait the little ship | B2 |
drifting beneath the deathly ashy grey | P2 |
of a flood dawn | K2 |
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Wait wait even so a flush of yellow | R |
and strangely O chilled wan soul a flush of rose | K |
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A flush of rose and the whole thing starts again | Q2 |
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X | K |
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The flood subsides and the body like a worn sea shell | F |
emerges strange and lovely | P |
And the little ship wings home faltering and lapsing | Y |
on the pink flood | A2 |
and the frail soul steps out into the house again | Q2 |
filling the heart with peace | K |
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Swings the heart renewed with peace | K |
even of oblivion | C |
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Oh build your ship of death Oh build it | G |
for you will need it | G |
For the voyage of oblivion awaits you | D |
David Herbert Lawrence
(1)
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