Wolf Knife Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJG KLMNGBO PQONRSTGUNB VTROWXYOBOOZA2 ZGZA2B2GOC2 A2OGGOOD2E2F2TOZ OGOB2BZB2G2H2F2G| In the mid August in the second year | A |
| of my First Polar Expedition the snow and ice of winter | B |
| almost upon us Kantiuk and I | C |
| attempted to dash the sledge | D |
| along Crispin Bay searching again for relics | E |
| of the Frankline Expedition Now a storm blew | F |
| and we turned back and we struggled slowly | G |
| in snow lest we depart land and venture onto ice | H |
| from which a sudden fog and thaw | I |
| would abandon us to the Providence | J |
| of the sea | G |
| - | |
| Near nightfall I thought I heard snarling behind us | K |
| Kantiuk told me that two wolves lean as the bones of a wrecked ship | L |
| had followed us the last hour and snapped their teeth | M |
| as if already feasting | N |
| I carried the one cartridge only | G |
| in my riffle since approaching the second winter | B |
| we rationed stores | O |
| - | |
| As it turned dark | P |
| we could push no further and made | Q |
| camp in a corner of ice hummocks | O |
| and the wolves stopped also growling | N |
| just past the limits of vision | R |
| coming closer until I could hear | S |
| the click of their feet on ice Kantiuk laughed | T |
| and remarked that the wolves appeared to be most hungry | G |
| I raised my rifle prepared to shoot the first that | U |
| ventured close hoping | N |
| to frighten the other | B |
| - | |
| Kantiuk struck my rifle down and said again | V |
| that the wolves were hungry and laughed | T |
| I feared that my old companion | R |
| was mad here in the storm among ice hummocks | O |
| stalked by wolves Now Kantiuk searched | W |
| in his pack and extracted | X |
| two knives turnoks the Innuits called them | Y |
| which by great labor were sharpened on both sides | O |
| to the sharpness like the edge of a barber's razor | B |
| and approached our dogs | O |
| and plunged both knives | O |
| into the body of our youngest dog | Z |
| who had limped all day | A2 |
| - | |
| I remember that I consider turning my rifle on Kantiuk | Z |
| as he approached then passed me | G |
| carrying knives red with the gore of our dog | Z |
| who had yowled moaned and now lay | A2 |
| expired surrounded | B2 |
| by curious cousins and uncles possibly | G |
| hungry and he trusted the knives | O |
| handle down in the snow | C2 |
| - | |
| Immediately after he left the knives the vague gray | A2 |
| shape of wolves | O |
| turned solid out of the darkness and the snow and set ravenously | G |
| to licking blood from the honed steel | G |
| the double edge of the knives | O |
| so lacerated the tongues of the starved beasts | O |
| that their own blood poured | D2 |
| copiously forth | E2 |
| to replenish the dog's blood and they ate | F2 |
| more furiously than before while Knatiuk laughed | T |
| and held his sides | O |
| laughing | Z |
| - | |
| And I laughed also perhaps in relief that Providence had delivered us | O |
| yet again or perhaps under conditions of extremity | G |
| far from Connecticut finding there creatures | O |
| acutely ridiculous so avid | B2 |
| to swallow their own blood First one and then the other | B |
| collapsed dying | Z |
| bloodless in the snow black with their own blood | B2 |
| and Kantiuk retrieved | G2 |
| his turnoks and hacked lean meat | H2 |
| from the thigh of the larger wolf which we ate | F2 |
| grateful blessing the Creator for we were hungry | G |
Donald Hall
(1)
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About Wolf Knife
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