Lancelot 09 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHDIJKLMNFGOP JJQRJFFFFFJJ SJTUVWXL YLZ JA2 A2B2C2C2D2E2 JHJF2 F2JCG2H2E2 LFF2F JI2FDJIDJ2AK2K2JL2AJ M2H2DN2O2ZP2ZJP2JUZF AZP2JFP2AP2P2Q2R2DFS 2T2P2P2P2CU2JJV2V2P2 FV2W2UP2X2D P2P2P2JP2P2JV2P2P2V2 Y2Z2V2 JP2V2FP2A3P2FFV2P2JB 3V2P2XP2G2FJV2P2F AP2P2P2XC3D3UJ P2FP2P2FQ2W2W2FP2G2F P2JP2JP2P2E3F3JP2P2J FP2P2P2P2P2G3FP2XP2P 2H3P2JZFP2FZ2P2FI3J JP2AV2W2J3FP2FP2P2FQ 2P2 FV2P2 P2P2 P2K3P2 L3P2JP2JP2P2V2P2V2JX JP2 FH3FM3P2P2 JV2P2B2 N3P2IXB2FO3US2O3 S2ZZP3P2P2JFS2JP2P2Q 3P2JP2O3R3ZS3S3V2P2E 3JP2T3H3FP2U3UJU3W2P 2P2IP2JV3P2AV2JP2P2W 3X3H3FP2H3P2JY3T2JV2 JZ3A4V2P2V2 B4P2F3FJC4V2V2 JW2V2P2C2 P2IS3P2P2P2P2JFAP2JJ JP2F3S2V2M3JV2FS3P2P 2P2FP2D4P2 P2P2FS3P2S3V2S3FJP2Q 3P2V2E4JP2JFV2AFS3S3 AS3P2E3P2S3JP2P2JS3F P2P2S3FS3 P2P2S3V2S3P2P2P2V2V2 P2P2P2 FP2JP2V2P2P2V2S3AFP2 P2S3P2S3P2S3JP2P2S3V 2JP2 P2

So Lancelot with a world's weight upon him	A
Went heavily to that heaviest of all toil	B
Which of itself tells hard in the beginning	C
Of what the end shall be He found an army	D
That would have razed all Britain and found kings	E
For generals and they all went to Dover	F
Where the white cliffs were ghostlike in the dawn	G
And after dawn were deathlike For the word	H
Of the dead King's last battle chilled the sea	D
Before a sail was down and all who came	I
With Lancelot heard soon from little men	J
Who clambered overside with larger news	K
How ill had fared the great Arthur was dead	L
And Modred with him each by the other slain	M
And there was no knight left of all who fought	N
On Salisbury field save one Sir Bedivere	F
Of whom the tale was told that he had gone	G
Darkly away to some far hermitage	O
To think and die There were tales told of a ship	P
	-
Anon by further sounding of more men	J
Each with a more delirious involution	J
Than his before him he believed at last	Q
The Queen was yet alive if it were life	R
To draw now the Queen's breath or to see Britain	J
With the Queen's eyes and that she fared somewhere	F
To westward out of London where the Tower	F
Had held her as once Joyous Gard had held her	F
For dolorous weeks and months a prisoner there	F
With Modred not far off his eyes afire	F
For her and for the King's avenging throne	J
That neither King nor son should see again	J
The world had paid enough for Camelot '	-
Gawaine said and the Queen had paid enough	S
God knows said Lancelot He saw Bors again	J
And found him angry angry with his tears	T
And with his fate that was a reason for them	U
Could I have died with Modred on my soul	V
And had the King lived on then had I lived	W
On with him and this played out world of ours	X
Might not be for the dead	L
	-
A played out world	Y
Although that world be ours had best be dead	L
Said Lancelot There are worlds enough to follow	Z
Another Camelot and another King '	-
Bedivere said And where is Bedivere now	J
And Camelot	A2
	-
There is no Camelot	A2
Bors answered Are we going back to France	B2
Or are we to tent here and feed our souls	C2
On memories and on ruins till even our souls	C2
Are dead Or are we to set free for sport	D2
An idle army for what comes of it	E2
	-
Be idle till you hear from me again	J
Or for a fortnight Then if you have no word	H
Go back and I may follow you alone	J
In my own time in my own way	F2
	-
Your way	F2
Of late I fear has been too much your own	J
But what has been has been and I say nothing	C
For there is more than men at work in this	G2
And I have not your eyes to find the Light	H2
Here in the dark though some day I may see it	E2
	-
We shall all see it Bors Lancelot said	L
With his eyes on the earth He said no more	F
Then with a sad farewell he rode away	F2
Somewhere into the west He knew not where	F
	-
We shall all see it Bors he said again	J
Over and over he said it still as he rode	I2
And rode away to the west he knew not where	F
Until at last he smiled unhappily	D
At the vain sound of it Once I had gone	J
Where the Light guided me but the Queen came	I
And then there was no Light We shall all see	D
He bit the words off short snapping his teeth	J2
And rode on with his memories before him	A
Before him and behind They were a cloud	K2
For no Light now to pierce They were a cloud	K2
Made out of what was gone and what was gone	J
Had now another lure than once it had	L2
Before it went so far away from him	A
To Camelot And there was no Camelot now	J
Now that no Queen was there all white and gold	M2
Under an oaktree with another sunlight	H2
Sifting itself in silence on her glory	D
Through the dark leaves above her where she sat	N2
Smiling at what she feared and fearing least	O2
What most there was to fear Ages ago	Z
That must have been for a king's world had faded	P2
Since then and a king with it Ages ago	Z
And yesterday surely it must have been	J
That he had held her moaning in the firelight	P2
And heard the roaring down of that long rain	J
As if to wash away the walls that held them	U
Then for that hour together Ages ago	Z
And always it had been that he had seen her	F
As now she was floating along before him	A
Too far to touch and too fair not to follow	Z
Even though to touch her were to die He closed	P2
His eyes only to see what he had seen	J
When they were open and he found it nearer	F
Seeing nothing now but the still white and gold	P2
In a wide field of sable smiling at him	A
But with a smile not hers until today	P2
A smile to drive no votary from the world	P2
To find the Light She is not what it is	Q2
That I see now he said No woman alive	R2
And out of hell was ever like that to me	D
What have I done to her since I have lost her	F
What have I done to change her No it is I	S2
I who have changed She is not one who changes	T2
The Light came and I did not follow it	P2
Then she came knowing not what thing she did	P2
And she it was I followed The gods play	P2
Like that sometimes and when the gods are playing	C
Great men are not so great as the great gods	U2
Had led them once to dream I see her now	J
Where now she is alone We are all alone	J
We that are left and if I look too long	V2
Into her eyes I shall not look too long	V2
Yet look I must Into the west they say	P2
She went for refuge I see nuns around her	F
But she with so much history tenanting	V2
Her eyes and all that gold over her eyes	W2
Were not yet I should augur out of them	U
If I do ill to see her then may God	P2
Forgive me one more trespass I would leave	X2
The world and not the shadow of it behind me	D
	-
Time brought his weary search to a dusty end	P2
One afternoon in Almesbury where he left	P2
With a glad sigh his horse in an innyard	P2
And while he ate his food and drank his wine	J
Thrushes indifferent in their loyalty	P2
To Arthur dead and to Pan never dead	P2
Sang as if all were now as all had been	J
Lancelot heard them till his thoughts came back	V2
To freeze his heart again under the flood	P2
Of all his icy fears What should he find	P2
And what if he should not find anything	V2
Words after all he said are only words	Y2
And I have heard so many in these few days	Z2
That half my wits are sick	V2
	-
He found the queen	J
But she was not the Queen of white and gold	P2
That he had seen before him for so long	V2
There was no gold there was no gold anywhere	F
The black hood and the white face under it	P2
And the blue frightened eyes were all he saw	A3
Until he saw more black and then more white	P2
Black was a foreign foe to Guinevere	F
And in the glimmering stillness where he found her	F
Now it was death and she Alcestis like	V2
Had waited unaware for the one hand	P2
Availing so he thought that would have torn	J
Off and away the last fell shred of doom	B3
That was destroying and dishonoring	V2
All the world held of beauty His eyes burned	P2
With a sad anger as he gazed at hers	X
That shone with a sad pity No she said	P2
You have not come for this We are done with this	G2
For there are no queens here there is a Mother	F
The Queen that was is only a child now	J
And you are strong Remember you are strong	V2
And that your fingers hurt when they forget	P2
How strong they are	F
	-
He let her go from him	A
And while he gazed around him he frowned hard	P2
And long at the cold walls Is this the end	P2
Of Arthur's kingdom and of Camelot	P2
She told him with a motion of her shoulders	X
All that she knew of Camelot or of kingdoms	C3
And then said We are told of other States	D3
Where there are palaces if we should need them	U
That are not made with hands I thought you knew	J
	-
Dumb like a man twice banished Lancelot	P2
Stood gazing down upon the cold stone floor	F
And she demurely with a calm regard	P2
That he met once and parried stood apart	P2
Appraising him with eyes that were no longer	F
Those he had seen when first they had seen his	Q2
They were kind eyes but they were not the eyes	W2
Of his desire and they were not the eyes	W2
That he had followed all the way from Dover	F
I feared the Light was leading you she said	P2
So far by now from any place like this	G2
That I should have your memory but no more	F
Might not that way have been the wiser way	P2
There is no Arthur now no Modred now	J
No Guinevere She paused and her voice wandered	P2
Away from her own name There is nothing now	J
That I can see between you and the Light	P2
That I have dimmed so long If you forgive me	P2
And I believe you do though I know all	E3
That I have cost when I was worth so little	F3
There is no hazard that I see between you	J
And all you sought so long and would have found	P2
Had I not always hindered you Forgive me	P2
I could not let you go God pity men	J
When women love too much and women more	F
He scowled and with an iron shrug he said	P2
Yes there is that between me and the light	P2
He glared at her black hood as if to seize it	P2
Their eyes met and she smiled No Lancelot	P2
We are going by two roads to the same end	P2
Or let us hope at least what knowledge hides	G3
And so believe it We are going somewhere	F
Why the new world is not for you and me	P2
I cannot say but only one was ours	X
I think we must have lived in our one world	P2
All that earth had for us You are good to me	P2
Coming to find me here for the last time	H3
For I should have been lonely many a night	P2
Not knowing if you cared I do know now	J
And there is not much else for me to know	Z
That earth may tell me I found in the Tower	F
With Modred watching me that all you said	P2
That rainy night was true There was time there	F
To find out everything There were long days	Z2
And there were nights that I should not have said	P2
God would have made a woman to endure	F
I wonder if a woman lives who knows	I3
All she may do	J
	-
I wonder if one woman	J
Knows one thing she may do Lancelot said	P2
With a sad passion shining out of him	A
While he gazed on her beauty palled with black	V2
That hurt him like a sword The full blue eyes	W2
And the white face were there and the red lips	J3
Were there but there was no gold anywhere	F
What have you done with your gold hair he said	P2
I saw it shining all the way from Dover	F
But here I do not see it Shall I see it	P2
Faintly again she smiled Yes you may see it	P2
All the way back to Dover but not here	F
There's not much of it here and what there is	Q2
Is not for you to see	P2
	-
Well if not here	F
He said at last in a low voice that shook	V2
Is there no other place left in the world	P2
	-
There is not even the world left Lancelot	P2
For you and me	P2
	-
There is France left he said	P2
His face flushed like a boy's but he stood firm	K3
As a peak in the sea and waited	P2
	-
How many lives	L3
Must a man have in one to make him happy	P2
She asked with a wan smile of recollection	J
That only made the black that was around	P2
Her calm face more funereal Was it you	J
Or was it Gawaine who said once to me	P2
We cannot make one world of two nor may we	P2
Count one life more than one Could we go back	V2
To the old garden' Was it you who said it	P2
Or was it Bors He was always saying something	V2
It may have been Bors She was not looking then	J
At Lancelot she was looking at her fingers	X
In her old way as to be sure again	J
How many of them she had	P2
	-
He looked at her	F
Without the power to smile and for the time	H3
Forgot that he was Lancelot Is it fair	F
For you to drag that back out of its grave	M3
And hold it up like this for the small feast	P2
Of a small pride	P2
	-
Yes fair enough for a woman	J
Guinevere said not seeing his eyes How long	V2
Do you conceive the Queen of the Christian world	P2
Would hide herself in France	B2
	-
Why do you pause	N3
I said it I remember when I said it	P2
And it was not today Why in the name	I
Of grief should we hide anywhere Bells and banners	X
Are not for our occasion but in France	B2
There may be sights and silences more fair	F
Than pageants There are seas of difference	O3
Between this land and France albeit to cross them	U
Were no immortal voyage had you an eye	S2
For France that you had once	O3
	-
I have no eye	S2
Today for France I shall have none tomorrow	Z
And you will have no eye for France tomorrow	Z
Fatigue and loneliness and your poor dream	P3
Of what I was have led you to forget	P2
When you have had your time to think and see	P2
A little more then you will see as I do	J
And if you see France I shall not be there	F
Save as a memory there We are done you and I	S2
With what we were Could we go back again	J
The fruit that we should find' but you know best	P2
What we should find I am sorry for what I said	P2
But a light word though it cut one we love	Q3
May save ourselves the pain of a worse wound	P2
We are all women When you see one woman	J
When you see me before you in your fancy	P2
See me all white and gold as I was once	O3
I shall not harm you then I shall not come	R3
Between you and the Gleam that you must follow	Z
Whether you will or not There is no place	S3
For me but where I am there is no place	S3
For you save where it is that you are going	V2
If I knew everything as I know that	P2
I should know more than Merlin who knew all	E3
And long ago that we are to know now	J
What more he knew he may not then have told	P2
The King or anyone maybe not even himself	T3
Though Vivian may know something by this time	H3
That he has told her Have you wished I wonder	F
That I was more like Vivian or Isolt	P2
The dark ones are more devious and more famous	U3
And men fall down more numerously before them	U
Although I think more men get up again	J
And go away again than away from us	U3
If I were dark I might say otherwise	W2
Try to be glad even if you are sorry	P2
That I was not born dark for I was not	P2
For me there was no dark until it came	I
When the King came and with his heavy shadow	P2
Put out the sun that you made shine again	J
Before I was to die So I forgive	V3
The faggots I can do no more than that	P2
For you or God She looked away from him	A
And in the casement saw the sunshine dying	V2
The time that we have left will soon be gone	J
When the bell rings it rings for you to go	P2
But not for me to go It rings for me	P2
To stay and pray I who have not prayed much	W3
May as well pray now I have not what you have	X3
To make me see though I shall have sometime	H3
A new light of my own I saw in the Tower	F
When all was darkest and I may have dreamed	P2
A light that gave to men the eyes of Time	H3
To read themselves in silence Then it faded	P2
And the men faded I was there alone	J
I shall not have what you have or much else	Y3
In this place I shall see in other places	T2
What is not here I shall not be alone	J
And I shall tell myself that you are seeing	V2
All that I cannot see For the time now	J
What most I see is that I had no choice	Z3
And that you came to me How many years	A4
Of purgatory shall I pay God for saying	V2
This to you here Her words came slowly out	P2
And her mouth shook	V2
	-
He took her two small hands	B4
That were so pale and empty and so cold	P2
Poor child I said too much and heard too little	F3
Of what I said But when I found you here	F
So different so alone I would have given	J
My soul to be a chattel and a gage	C4
For dicing fiends to play for could so doing	V2
Have brought one summer back	V2
	-
When they are gone	J
She said with grateful sadness in her eyes	W2
We do not bring them back or buy them back	V2
Even with our souls I see now it is best	P2
We do not buy them back even with our souls	C2
	-
A slow and hollow bell began to sound	P2
Somewhere above them and the world became	I
For Lancelot one wan face Guinevere's face	S3
When the bell rings it rings for you to go	P2
She said and you are going I am not	P2
Think of me always as I used to be	P2
All white and gold for that was what you called me	P2
You may see gold again when you are gone	J
And I shall not be there He drew her nearer	F
To kiss the quivering lips that were before him	A
For the last time No not again she said	P2
I might forget that I am not alone	J
I shall not see you in this world again	J
But I am not alone No not alone	J
We have had all there was and you were kind	P2
Even when you tried so hard once to be cruel	F3
I knew it then or now I do Good bye	S2
He crushed her cold white hands and saw them falling	V2
Away from him like flowers into a grave	M3
When she looked up to see him he was gone	J
And that was all she saw till she awoke	V2
In her white cell where the nuns carried her	F
With many tears and many whisperings	S3
She was the Queen and he was Lancelot	P2
One said They were great lovers It is not good	P2
To know too much of love We who love God	P2
Alone are happiest Is it not so Mother	F
We who love God alone my child are safest	P2
The Mother replied and we are not all safe	D4
Until we are all dead We watch and pray	P2
	-
Outside again Lancelot heard the sound	P2
Of reapers he had seen With lighter tread	P2
He walked away to them to see them nearer	F
He walked and heard again the sound of thrushes	S3
Far off He saw below him stilled with yellow	P2
A world that was not Arthur's and he saw	S3
The convent roof and then he could see nothing	V2
But a wan face and two dim lonely hands	S3
That he had left behind They were down there	F
Somewhere her poor white face and hands alone	J
No man was ever alone like that he thought	P2
Not knowing what last havoc pity and love	Q3
Had still to wreak on wisdom Gradually	P2
In one long wave it whelmed him and then broke	V2
Leaving him like a lone man on a reef	E4
Staring for what had been with him but now	J
Was gone and was a white face under the sea	P2
Alive there and alone always alone	J
He closed his eyes and the white face was there	F
But not the gold The gold would not come back	V2
There were gold fields of corn that lay around him	A
But they were not the gold of Guinevere	F
Though men had once for sake of saying words	S3
Prattled of corn about it The still face	S3
Was there and the blue eyes that looked at him	A
Through all the stillness of all distances	S3
And he could see her lips trying to say	P2
Again I am not alone And that was all	E3
His life had said to him that he remembered	P2
While he sat there with his hands over his eyes	S3
And his heart aching When he rose again	J
The reapers had gone home Over the land	P2
Around him in the twilight there was rest	P2
There was rest everywhere and there was none	J
That found his heart Why should I look for peace	S3
When I have made the world a ruin of war	F
He muttered and a Voice within him said	P2
Where the Light falls death falls a world has died	P2
For you that a world may live There is no peace	S3
Be glad no man or woman bears for ever	F
The burden of first days There is no peace	S3
	-
A word stronger than his willed him away	P2
From Almesbury All alone he rode that night	P2
Under the stars led by the living Voice	S3
That would not give him peace Into the dark	V2
He rode but not for Dover Under the stars	S3
Alone all night he rode out of a world	P2
That was not his or the King's and in the night	P2
He felt a burden lifted as he rode	P2
While he prayed he might bear it for the sake	V2
Of a still face before him that was fading	V2
Away in a white loneliness He made	P2
Once with groping hand as if to touch it	P2
But a black branch of leaves was all he found	P2
	-
Now the still face was dimmer than before	F
And it was not so near him He gazed hard	P2
But through his tears he could not see it now	J
And when the tears were gone he could see only	P2
That all he saw was fading always fading	V2
And she was there alone She was the world	P2
That he was losing and the world he sought	P2
Was all a tale for those who had been living	V2
And had not lived Once even he turned his horse	S3
And would have brought his army back with him	A
To make her free They should be free together	F
But the Voice within him said You are not free	P2
You have come to the world's end and it is best	P2
You are not free Where the Light falls death falls	S3
And in the darkness comes the Light He turned	P2
Again and he rode on under the stars	S3
Out of the world into he knew not what	P2
Until a vision chilled him and he saw	S3
Now as in Camelot long ago in the garden	J
The face of Galahad who had seen and died	P2
And was alive now in a mist of gold	P2
He rode on into the dark under the stars	S3
And there were no more faces There was nothing	V2
But always in the darkness he rode on	J
Alone and in the darkness came the Light	P2
	-
THE END	P2

Edwin Arlington Robinson

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