The Poet Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGAHHAIJKA LMNOPEQRSKAAA TUVWXLYCZUA2B2A2DA2 C2A2A2A2A2D2A2A2| The riches of the poet are equal to his poetry | A |
| His power is his left hand | B |
| It is idle weak and precious | C |
| His poverty is his wealth a wealth which may destroy him | D |
| like Midas Because it is that laziness which is a form of impatience | E |
| And this he may be destroyed by the gold of the light | F |
| which never was | G |
| On land or sea | A |
| He may be drunken to death draining the casks of excess | H |
| That extreme form of success | H |
| He may suffer Narcissus' destiny | A |
| Unable to live except with the image which is infatuation | I |
| Love blind adoring overflowing | J |
| Unable to respond to anything which does not bring love | K |
| quickly or immediately | A |
| - | |
| The poet must be innocent and ignorant | L |
| But he cannot be innocent since stupidity is not his strong | M |
| point | N |
| Therefore Cocteau said What would I not give | O |
| To have the poems of my youth withdrawn from | P |
| existence | E |
| I would give to Satan my immortal soul | Q |
| This metaphor is wrong for it is his immortal soul which | R |
| he wished to redeem | S |
| Lifting it and sifting it free and white from the actuality of | K |
| youth's banality vulgarity | A |
| pomp and affectation of his early | A |
| works of poetry | A |
| - | |
| So too in the same way a Famous American Poet | T |
| When fame at last had come to him sought out the fifty copies | U |
| of his first book of poems which had been privately printed | V |
| by himself at his own expense | W |
| He succeeded in securing of the copies burned them | X |
| And learned then how the last copies were extant | L |
| As the law of the land required stashed away in the national capital | Y |
| at the Library of Congress | C |
| Therefore he went to Washington therefore he took out the last two | Z |
| copies | U |
| Placed them in his pocket planned to depart | A2 |
| Only to be halted and apprehended Since he was the author | B2 |
| Since they were his books and his property he was reproached | A2 |
| But forgiven But the two copies were taken away from him | D |
| Thus setting a national precedent | A2 |
| - | |
| For neither amnesty nor forgiveness is bestowed upon poets poetry and poems | C2 |
| For William James the lovable genius of Harvard | A2 |
| spoke the terrifying truth Your friends may forget God | A2 |
| may forgive you But the brain cells record | A2 |
| your acts for the rest of eternity | A2 |
| What a terrifying thing to say | D2 |
| This is the endless doom without remedy of poetry | A2 |
| This is also the joy everlasting of poetry | A2 |
Delmore Schwartz
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About The Poet
The Poet is a poem by Delmore Schwartz. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.