Ikon: The Harrowing Of Hell Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIHJKFBHLMNOC JHPQQRSTQUVWXYBZIA2Down through the tomb's inward arch | A |
He has shouldered out into Limbo | B |
to gather them dazed from dreamless slumber | C |
the merciful dead the prophets | D |
the innocents just His own age and those | E |
unnumbered others waiting here | F |
unaware in an endless void He is ending | G |
now stooping to tug at their hands | H |
to pull them from their sarcophagi | I |
dazzled almost unwilling Didmas | H |
neighbor in death Golgotha dust | J |
still streaked on the dried sweat of his body | K |
no one had washed and anointed is here | F |
for sequence is not known in Limbo | B |
the promise given from cross to cross | H |
at noon arches beyond sunset and dawn | L |
All these He will swiftly lead | M |
to the Paradise road they are safe | N |
That done there must take place that struggle | O |
no human presumes to picture | C |
living dying descending to rescue the just | J |
from shadow were lesser travails | H |
than this to break | P |
through earth and stone of the faithless world | Q |
back to the cold sepulchre tearstained | Q |
stifling shroud to break from i them i | R |
back into breath and heartbeat and walk | S |
the world again closed into days and weeks again | T |
wounds of His anguish open and Spirit | Q |
streaming through every cell of flesh | U |
so that if mortal sight could bear | V |
to perceive it it would be seen | W |
His mortal flesh was lit from within now | X |
and aching for home He must return | Y |
first in Divine patience and know | B |
hunger again and give | Z |
to humble friends the joy | I |
of giving Him food fish and a honeycomb | A2 |
Denise Levertov
(1)
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