The Struggle Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFDGHIJKLMNOIPQ RSTBGUVWXDYD ZDA2B2C2D2ATE2DD F2WAG2TH2I2H2J2I2K2L 2ADAVAVAKVDM2D DN2O2P2DDQ2DDH2TR2S2 M2M2YL2 DDDEDA EAT2DEU2DDV2H2DDW2Q2 QFQ2X2DY2P2Z2A3D DB3C3 DD3E3F3G3H3DTVKB2DO

I have been down in a dark valleyA
I have been groping through a deep gorgeB
Far above the lips of it were rimmed with moonC
lightD
And here and there the light lay on the drippingE
rocksF
So that it seemed they dripped with moonlightD
not with waterG
So deep it was that narrow gash among the hillsH
That those great pines which fringed its edgeI
Seemed to me no larger than upthrust fingersJ
Silhouetted against the skyK
And at its top the vale was straitL
And the rays were slantM
And reached but part way down the sidesN
I could not see the moon itselfO
I walked through darkness and the valley's edgeI
Seemed almost level with the starsP
The stars that were like fireflies in the little treesQ
-
It was the midnight of defeatR
I felt that I had failedS
I was mocked of the godsT
There was no way out of that gorgeB
The paths led no whitherG
And I could not remember their beginningsU
I was doomed to wander evermoreV
Thirsty with the sound of mocking waters inW
mine earsX
Groping with gleams of useless lightD
Splashed in ironic beauty on the rocks aboveY
And so I whinedD
-
And then despair flashed into rageZ
I leapt erect and criedD
Could I but grasp my life as sculptors grasp the clayA2
And knead and thrust it into shape againB2
If all the scorn of Heaven were but thrownC2
Into the focus of some creature I could clutchD2
If something tangible were but vouchsafed meA
By the cold far godsT
If they but sent a Reason for the failure of my lifeE2
I'd answer itD
If they but sent a Fiend I'd conquer itD
-
But I reach out and grasp the airF2
I rage and the brute rock echoes my words inW
mockeryA
How can one fight the sliding moonlight on the cliffsG2
You gods coward godsT
Come down I challenge youH2
You who set snares with roses and with passionI2
You who make flesh beautiful and damn men throughH2
the fleshJ2
You who plump the purple grape and then put poisonI2
in the cupK2
You who put serpents in your EdensL2
You who gave me delight of my senses and broke meA
for itD
You who have mingled death with beautyA
You who have put into my blood the impulses forV
which you cursed meA
You who permitted my brain the doubts whereforeV
you damn meA
Behold I doubt you gods no longer but defyK
I perish hereV
Then I will be slain of a godD
You who have wrapped me in the scorn of your silenceM2
The divinity in this same dust you floutD
-
i Flames through the dustD
And daresN2
And flings you back your scornO2
Come face to face and slay me if you willP2
But not until you've felt the weightD
Of all betricked humanity's contemptD
In one bold blowQ2
Speak forth a Reason and I will answer itD
Yes to your faces I will answer itD
Come garmented in flesh and I will fight with youH2
Yes in your faces will I smite you godsT
Coward gods and tricksters that set trapsR2
In paradiseS2
Far gods that hedge yourselves about with silenceM2
And with distanceM2
That mock men from the unscalable escarpments ofY
your HeavensL2
-
Thus I raved being madD
I had no sooner finished speaking than I feltD
The darkness fluttered by approaching feetD
And the silence was burned through by tremblingE
flames of soundD
And I was 'ware that Something stood by meA
-
And with a shout I leapt and grasped that BeingE
And the Thing grasped meA
We came to wrestling gripsT2
And back and forth we swayedD
Hand seeking throat and crook'd knee seekingE
To encrook unwary legU2
And spread toes grasping the uneven groundD
The strained breast muscles cracked and creakedD
The sweat ran in my eyesV2
The plagued breath sobbed and whistled throughH2
my throatD
I tasted blood and strangled but still struggledD
onW2
The stars above me danced in swarms like yellowQ2
beesQ
The shaken moonlight writhed upon the rocksF
But at the last I felt his breathing weaker growQ2
The tense limbs grow less tenseX2
And with a bursting cry I bent his head rightD
backY2
Back back untilP2
I heard his neck bones snapZ2
His spine crunched in my gripA3
I flung him to the earth and knelt upon his breastD
-
And listened till the fluttering pulse was stilledD
Man god or devil I had wrenched the life fromB3
himC3
-
And lo even as he diedD
The moonlight failed above the valeD3
And somehow sure I know now howE3
Between the rifted rocks the great Sun struckF3
A finger down the cliff and that red beamG3
Lay sharp across the face of him that I had slainH3
And in that light I read the answer of the silentD
godsT
Unto my cursed out prayerV
For he that lay upon the ground was IK
I understood the lesson thenB2
It was myself that lay there deadD
Yes I had slain my SelfO

Don Marquis



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