What Were They Like? Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHI BJKHLDMNOEPQCRSTUVWX YZ| Did the people of Viet Nam | A |
| use lanterns of stone | B |
| Did they hold ceremonies | C |
| to reverence the opening of buds | D |
| Were they inclined to quiet laughter | E |
| Did they use bone and ivory | F |
| jade and silver for ornament | G |
| Had they an epic poem | H |
| Did they distinguish between speech and singing | I |
| - | |
| Sir their light hearts turned to stone | B |
| It is not remembered whether in gardens | J |
| stone gardens illumined pleasant ways | K |
| Perhaps they gathered once to delight in blossom | H |
| but after their children were killed | L |
| there were no more buds | D |
| Sir laughter is bitter to the burned mouth | M |
| A dream ago perhaps Ornament is for joy | N |
| All the bones were charred | O |
| it is not remembered Remember | E |
| most were peasants their life | P |
| was in rice and bamboo | Q |
| When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddies | C |
| and the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces | R |
| maybe fathers told their sons old tales | S |
| When bombs smashed those mirrors | T |
| there was time only to scream | U |
| There is an echo yet | V |
| of their speech which was like a song | W |
| It was reported their singing resembled | X |
| the flight of moths in moonlight | Y |
| Who can say It is silent now | Z |
Denise Levertov
(1)
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