Tamerlane - Early Version Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCBCDBDBEEFGFG A BHBIJJKLKM LKNNOP A MMQMRSMS TUUMTMBBVWWVBARXWYWY AR T USSUZA2B2A2MM C2D2C2BD2MA2M T BMBE2MBE2F2G2G2 QQH2H2SSI2MI2MAQAQ A KJ2KJ2MMTTMTTMK2L2MK 2L2M T BM2BM2N2N2G2O2G2O2P2 Q2AP2R2A R2S2R2R2XQXQ T TT2TMMT2K2K2MMVVMKKT VTVMR2MR2QR2QTR2TBBK 2KK2K R2 MMR2R2K2K2VBVBT2T2LL QQ MU2MU2MR2MR2MV2MMV2D W2DW2R2R2 R2 MMR2R2R2X2R2X2MM Y2R2Y2R2R2MR2MR2M R2 BXZ2Z2DDIHHMMY2Y2Y2M Y2Y2MY2Y2BBY2MTMTMR2 MMR2 R2 AY2AY2Y2KKF2MBMA3A3Y 2MY2M R2 Y2B3Y2BQMQMY2Y2Y2Y2Y 2Y2R2R2 T B3Y2BY2MMMMR2R2QQQQR 2R2C3C3MMY2W2W2Y2R2R 2MM T Y2Y2Y2Y2MMMMMMKKY2R2 Y2BR2BR2R2 T MMQQY2Y2MMBY2QB3Y2R2 Y2R2R2Y2Y2MMY2Y2Y2D3 MMQQMMDDE3E3QQMMMMQQ B3B Q XR2XR2MMY2Y2Y2A2Y2Y2 Y2A2Y2I | A |
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I have sent for thee holy friar | B |
But 'twas not with the drunken hope | C |
Which is but agony of desire | B |
To shun the fate with which to cope | C |
Is more than crime may dare to dream | D |
That I have call'd thee at this hour | B |
Such father is not my theme | D |
Nor am I mad to deem that power | B |
Of earth may shrive me of the sin | E |
Unearthly pride hath revell'd in | E |
I would not call thee fool old man | F |
But hope is not a gift of thine | G |
If I can hope O God I can | F |
It falls from an eternal shrine | G |
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II | A |
- | |
The gay wall of this gaudy tower | B |
Grows dim around me death is near | H |
I had not thought until this hour | B |
When passing from the earth that ear | I |
Of any were it not the shade | J |
Of one whom in life I made | J |
All mystery but a simple name | K |
Might know the secret of a spirit | L |
Bow'd down in sorrow and in shame | K |
Shame said'st thou | M |
- | |
Aye I did inherit | L |
That hatred portion with the fame | K |
The worldly glory which has shown | N |
A demon light around my throne | N |
Scorching my sear'd heart with a pain | O |
Not Hell shall make me fear again | P |
- | |
III | A |
- | |
I have not always been as now | M |
The fever'd diadem on my brow | M |
I claim'd and won usurpingly | Q |
Aye the same heritage hath giv'n | M |
Rome to the C sar this to me | R |
The heirdom of a kingly mind | S |
And a proud spirit which hath striv'n | M |
Triumphantly with human kind | S |
- | |
In mountain air I first drew life | T |
The mists of the Taglay have shed | U |
Nightly their dews on my young head | U |
And my brain drank their venom then | M |
When after day of perilous strife | T |
With chamois I would seize his den | M |
And slumber in my pride of power | B |
The infant monarch of the hour | B |
For with the mountain dew by night | V |
My soul imbib'd unhallow'd feeling | W |
And I would feel its essence stealing | W |
In dreams upon me while the light | V |
Flashing from cloud that hover'd o'er | B |
Would seem to my half closing eye | A |
The pageantry of monarchy | R |
And the deep thunder's echoing roar | X |
Came hurriedly upon me telling | W |
Of war and tumult where my voice | Y |
My own voice silly child was swelling | W |
O how would my wild heart rejoice | Y |
And leap within me at the cry | A |
The battle cry of victory | R |
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IV | T |
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The rain came down upon my head | U |
But barely shelter'd and the wind | S |
Pass'd quickly o'er me but my mind | S |
Was mad'ning for 'twas man that shed | U |
Laurels upon me and the rush | Z |
The torrent of the chilly air | A2 |
Gurgled in my pleas'd ear the crash | B2 |
Of empires with the captive's prayer | A2 |
The hum of suitors the mix'd tone | M |
Of flatt'ry round a sov'reign's throne | M |
- | |
The storm had ceas'd and I awoke | C2 |
Its spirit cradled me to sleep | D2 |
And as it pass'd me by there broke | C2 |
Strange light upon me tho' it were | B |
My soul in mystery to sleep | D2 |
For I was not as I had been | M |
The child of Nature without care | A2 |
Or thought save of the passing scene | M |
- | |
V | T |
- | |
My passions from that hapless hour | B |
Usurp'd a tyranny which men | M |
Have deem'd since I have reach'd to power | B |
My innate nature be it so | E2 |
But father there liv'd one who then | M |
Then in my boyhood when their fire | B |
Burn'd with a still intenser glow | E2 |
For passion must with youth expire | F2 |
Ev'n then who deem'd this iron heart | G2 |
In woman's weakness had a part | G2 |
- | |
I have no words alas to tell | Q |
The lovliness of loving well | Q |
Nor would I dare attempt to trace | H2 |
The breathing beauty of a face | H2 |
Which ev'n to my impassion'd mind | S |
Leaves not its memory behind | S |
In spring of life have ye ne'er dwelt | I2 |
Some object of delight upon | M |
With steadfast eye till ye have felt | I2 |
The earth reel and the vision gone | M |
And I have held to mem'ry's eye | A |
One object and but one until | Q |
Its very form hath pass'd me by | A |
But left its influence with me still | Q |
- | |
VI | A |
- | |
'Tis not to thee that I should name | K |
Thou can'st not would'st not dare to think | J2 |
The magic empire of a flame | K |
Which ev'n upon this perilous brink | J2 |
Hath fix'd my soul tho' unforgiv'n | M |
By what it lost for passion Heav'n | M |
I lov'd and O how tenderly | T |
Yes she worthy of all love | T |
Such as in infancy was mine | M |
Tho' then its passion could not be | T |
'Twas such as angel minds above | T |
Might envy her young heart the shrine | M |
On which my ev'ry hope and thought | K2 |
Were incense then a goodly gift | L2 |
For they were childish without sin | M |
Pure as her young examples taught | K2 |
Why did I leave it and adrift | L2 |
Trust to the fickle star within | M |
- | |
VII | T |
- | |
We grew in age and love together | B |
Roaming the forest and the wild | M2 |
My breast her shield in wintry weather | B |
And when the friendly sunshine smil'd | M2 |
And she would mark the op'ning skies | N2 |
I saw no Heav'n but in her eyes | N2 |
Ev'n childhood knows the human heart | G2 |
For when in sunshine and in smiles | O2 |
From all our little cares apart | G2 |
Laughing at her half silly wiles | O2 |
I'd throw me on her throbbing breast | P2 |
And pour my spirit out in tears | Q2 |
She'd look up in my wilder'd eye | A |
There was no need to speak the rest | P2 |
No need to quiet her kind fears | R2 |
She did not ask the reason why | A |
- | |
The hallow'd mem'ry of those years | R2 |
Comes o'er me in these lonely hours | S2 |
And with sweet lovliness appears | R2 |
As perfume of strange summer flow'rs | R2 |
Of flow'rs which we have known before | X |
In infancy which seen recall | Q |
To mind not flow'rs alone but more | X |
Our earthly life and love and all | Q |
- | |
VIII | T |
- | |
Yes she was worthy of all love | T |
Ev'n such as from th' accursed time | T2 |
My spirit with the tempest strove | T |
When on the mountain peak alone | M |
Ambition lent it a new tone | M |
And bade it first to dream of crime | T2 |
My phrenzy to her bosom taught | K2 |
We still were young no purer thought | K2 |
Dwell in a seraph's breast than thine | M |
For passionate love is still divine | M |
I lov'd her as an angel might | V |
With ray of the all living light | V |
Which blazes upon Edis' shrine | M |
It is not surely sin to name | K |
With such as mine that mystic flame | K |
I had no being but in thee | T |
The world with all its train of bright | V |
And happy beauty for to me | T |
All was an undefin'd delight | V |
The world its joy its share of pain | M |
Which I felt not its bodied forms | R2 |
Of varied being which contain | M |
The bodiless spirits of the storms | R2 |
The sunshine and the calm the ideal | Q |
And fleeting vanities of dreams | R2 |
Fearfully beautiful the real | Q |
Nothings of mid day waking life | T |
Of an enchanted life which seems | R2 |
Now as I look back the strife | T |
Of some ill demon with a power | B |
Which left me in an evil hour | B |
All that I felt or saw or thought | K2 |
Crowding confused became | K |
With thine unearthly beauty fraught | K2 |
Thou and the nothing of a name | K |
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IX | R2 |
- | |
The passionate spirit which hath known | M |
And deeply felt the silent tone | M |
Of its own self supremacy | R2 |
I speak thus openly to thee | R2 |
'Twere folly now to veil a thought | K2 |
With which this aching breast is fraught | K2 |
The soul which feels its innate right | V |
The mystic empire and high power | B |
Giv'n by the energetic might | V |
Of Genius at its natal hour | B |
Which knows believe me at this time | T2 |
When falsehood were a ten fold crime | T2 |
There is a power in the high spirit | L |
To know the fate it will inherit | L |
The soul which knows such power will still | Q |
Find Pride the ruler of its will | Q |
- | |
Yes I was proud and ye who know | M |
The magic of that meaning word | U2 |
So oft perverted will bestow | M |
Your scorn perhaps when ye have heard | U2 |
That the proud spirit had been broken | M |
The proud heart burst in agony | R2 |
At one upbraiding word or token | M |
Of her that heart's idolatry | R2 |
I was ambitious have ye known | M |
Its fiery passion ye have not | V2 |
A cottager I mark'd a throne | M |
Of half the world as all my own | M |
And murmur'd at such lowly lot | V2 |
But it had pass'd me as a dream | D |
Which of light step flies with the dew | W2 |
That kindling thought did not the beam | D |
Of Beauty which did guide it through | W2 |
The livelong summer day oppress | R2 |
My mind with double loveliness | R2 |
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X | R2 |
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We walk'd together on the crown | M |
Of a high mountain which look'd down | M |
Afar from its proud natural towers | R2 |
Of rock and forest on the hills | R2 |
The dwindled hills whence amid bowers | R2 |
Her own fair hand had rear'd around | X2 |
Gush'd shoutingly a thousand rills | R2 |
Which as it were in fairy bound | X2 |
Embrac'd two hamlets those our own | M |
Peacefully happy yet alone | M |
- | |
I spoke to her of power and pride | Y2 |
But mystically in such guise | R2 |
That she might deem it naught beside | Y2 |
The moment's converse in her eyes | R2 |
I read perhaps too carelessly | R2 |
A mingled feeling with my own | M |
The flush on her bright cheek to me | R2 |
Seem'd to become a queenly throne | M |
Too well that I should let it be | R2 |
A light in the dark wild alone | M |
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XI | R2 |
- | |
There in that hour a thought came o'er | B |
My mind it had not known before | X |
To leave her while we both were young | Z2 |
To follow my high fate among | Z2 |
The strife of nations and redeem | D |
The idle words which as a dream | D |
Now sounded to her heedless ear | I |
I held no doubt I knew no fear | H |
Of peril in my wild career | H |
To gain an empire and throw down | M |
As nuptial dowry a queen's crown | M |
The only feeling which possest | Y2 |
With her own image my fond breast | Y2 |
Who that had known the secret thought | Y2 |
Of a young peasant's bosom then | M |
Had deem'd him in compassion aught | Y2 |
But one whom phantasy had led | Y2 |
Astray from reason Among men | M |
Ambition is chain'd down nor fed | Y2 |
As in the desert where the grand | Y2 |
The wild the beautiful conspire | B |
With their own breath to fan its fire | B |
With thoughts such feeling can command | Y2 |
Uncheck'd by sarcasm and scorn | M |
Of those who hardly will conceive | T |
That any should become great born | M |
In their own sphere will not believe | T |
That they shall stoop in life to one | M |
Whom daily they are wont to see | R2 |
Familiarly whom Fortune's sun | M |
Hath ne'er shone dazzlingly upon | M |
Lowly and of their own degree | R2 |
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XII | R2 |
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I pictur'd to my fancy's eye | A |
Her silent deep astonishment | Y2 |
When a few fleeting years gone by | A |
For short the time my high hope lent | Y2 |
To its most desperate intent | Y2 |
She might recall in him whom Fame | K |
Had gilded with a conquerer's name | K |
With glory such as might inspire | F2 |
Perforce a passing thought of one | M |
Whom she had deem'd in his own fire | B |
Wither'd and blasted who had gone | M |
A traitor violate of the truth | A3 |
So plighted in his early youth | A3 |
Her own Alexis who should plight | Y2 |
The love he plighted then again | M |
And raise his infancy's delight | Y2 |
The bride and queen of Tamerlane | M |
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XIII | R2 |
- | |
One noon of a bright summer's day | Y2 |
I pass'd from out the matted bow'r | B3 |
Where in a deep still slumber lay | Y2 |
My Ada In that peaceful hour | B |
A silent gaze was my farewell | Q |
I had no other solace then | M |
T'awake her and a falsehood tell | Q |
Of a feign'd journey were again | M |
To trust the weakness of my heart | Y2 |
To her soft thrilling voice To part | Y2 |
Thus haply while in sleep she dream'd | Y2 |
Of long delight nor yet had deem'd | Y2 |
Awake that I had held a thought | Y2 |
Of parting were with madness fraught | Y2 |
I knew not woman's heart alas | R2 |
Tho' lov'd and loving let it pass | R2 |
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XIV | T |
- | |
I went from out the matted bow'r | B3 |
And hurried madly on my way | Y2 |
And felt with ev'ry flying hour | B |
That bore me from my home more gay | Y2 |
There is of earth an agony | M |
Which ideal still may be | M |
The worst ill of mortality | M |
'Tis bliss in its own reality | M |
Too real to his breast who lives | R2 |
Not within himself but gives | R2 |
A portion of his willing soul | Q |
To God and to the great whole | Q |
To him whose loving spirit will dwell | Q |
With Nature in her wild paths tell | Q |
Of her wond'rous ways and telling bless | R2 |
Her overpow'ring loveliness | R2 |
A more than agony to him | C3 |
Whose failing sight will grow dim | C3 |
With its own living gaze upon | M |
That loveliness around the sun | M |
The blue sky the misty light | Y2 |
Of the pale cloud therein whose hue | W2 |
Is grace to its heav'nly bed of blue | W2 |
Dim tho' looking on all bright | Y2 |
O God when the thoughts that may not pass | R2 |
Will burst upon him and alas | R2 |
For the flight on Earth to Fancy giv'n | M |
There are no words unless of Heav'n | M |
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XV | T |
- | |
Look 'round thee now on Samarcand | Y2 |
Is she not queen of earth her pride | Y2 |
Above all cities in her hand | Y2 |
Their destinies with all beside | Y2 |
Of glory which the world hath known | M |
Stands she not proudly and alone | M |
And who her sov'reign Timur he | M |
Whom th' astonish'd earth hath seen | M |
With victory on victory | M |
Redoubling age and more I ween | M |
The Zinghis' yet re echoing fame | K |
And now what has he what a name | K |
The sound of revelry by night | Y2 |
Comes o'er me with the mingled voice | R2 |
Of many with a breast as light | Y2 |
As if 'twere not the dying hour | B |
Of one in whom they did rejoice | R2 |
As in a leader haply Power | B |
Its venom secretly imparts | R2 |
Nothing have I with human hearts | R2 |
- | |
XVI | T |
- | |
When Fortune mark'd me for her own | M |
And my proud hopes had reach'd a throne | M |
It boots me not good friar to tell | Q |
A tale the world but knows too well | Q |
How by what hidden deeds of might | Y2 |
I clamber'd to the tottering height | Y2 |
I still was young and well I ween | M |
My spirit what it e'er had been | M |
My eyes were still on pomp and power | B |
My wilder'd heart was far away | Y2 |
In vallies of the wild Taglay | Q |
In mine own Ada's matted bow'r | B3 |
I dwelt not long in Samarcand | Y2 |
Ere in a peasant's lowly guise | R2 |
I sought my long abandon'd land | Y2 |
By sunset did its mountains rise | R2 |
In dusky grandeur to my eyes | R2 |
But as I wander'd on the way | Y2 |
My heart sunk with the sun's ray | Y2 |
To him who still would gaze upon | M |
The glory of the summer sun | M |
There comes when that sun will from him part | Y2 |
A sullen hopelessness of heart | Y2 |
That soul will hate the ev'ning mist | Y2 |
So often lovely and will lisp | D3 |
To the sound of the coming darkness known | M |
To those whose spirits hark'n as one | M |
Who in a dream of night would fly | Q |
But cannot from a danger nigh | Q |
What though the moon the silvery moon | M |
Shine on his path in her high noon | M |
Her smile is chilly and her beam | D |
In that time of dreariness will seem | D |
As the portrait of one after death | E3 |
A likeness taken when the breath | E3 |
Of young life and the fire o' the eye | Q |
Had lately been but had pass'd by | Q |
'Tis thus when the lovely summer sun | M |
Of our boyhood his course hath run | M |
For all we live to know is known | M |
And all we seek to keep hath flown | M |
With the noon day beauty which is all | Q |
Let life then as the day flow'r fall | Q |
The trancient passionate day flow'r | B3 |
Withering at the ev'ning hour | B |
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XVII | Q |
- | |
I reach'd my home my home no more | X |
For all was flown that made it so | R2 |
I pass'd from out its mossy door | X |
In vacant idleness of woe | R2 |
There met me on its threshold stone | M |
A mountain hunter I had known | M |
In childhood but he knew me not | Y2 |
Something he spoke of the old cot | Y2 |
It had seen better days he said | Y2 |
There rose a fountain once and there | A2 |
Full many a fair flow'r rais'd its head | Y2 |
But she who rear'd them was long dead | Y2 |
And in such follies had no part | Y2 |
What was there left me now despair | A2 |
A kingdom for a broken heart | Y2 |
Edgar Allan Poe
(1)
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