Merlin Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHAC IJKCLMNOPCQRCMCSCCCT UVCJLLWXCYZA2BB2AW CUCOKCC2LD2E2WWF2WWG 2H2I2J2WK2CC H2L2AH2LWM2CH2H2W H2H2G2K2H2AAH2HN2XI2 O2P2LH2H2Q2WC H2WWAH2LJK2K2JN2AH2R 2W H2R2CAF2CS2WWF2WH2F2 F2 H2H2H2WWWACJL CCH2H2T2AH2H2WWWH2U2 WWWT2H2WH2WH2WH2WWWA H2A2Q2 WAH2AH2H2AH2H2F2CWH2 C

Gawaine Gawaine what look ye for to seeA
So far beyond the faint edge of the worldB
D ye look to see the lady VivianC
Pursued by divers ominous vile demonsD
That have another king more fierce than oursE
Or think ye that if ye look far enoughF
And hard enough into the feathery westG
Ye ll have a glimmer of the Grail itselfH
And if ye look for neither Grail nor ladyA
What look ye for to see Gawaine GawaineC
-
So Dagonet whom Arthur made a knightI
Because he loved him as he laughed at himJ
Intoned his idle presence on a dayK
To Gawaine who had thought himself aloneC
Had there been in him thought of anythingL
Save what was murmured now in CamelotM
Of Merlin s hushed and all but unconfirmedN
Appearance out of Brittany It was heardO
At first there was a ghost in Arthur s palaceP
But soon among the scullions and anonC
Among the knights a firmer credit heldQ
All tongues from uttering what all glances toldR
Though not for long Gawaine this afternoonC
Fearing he might say more to LancelotM
Of Merlin s rumor laden resurrectionC
Than Lancelot would have an ear to cherishS
Had sauntered off with his imaginationC
To Merlin s Rock where now there was no MerlinC
To meditate upon a whispering townC
Below him in the silence Once he saidT
To Gawaine You are young and that being soU
Behold the shining city of our dreamsV
And of our King Long live the King said GawaineC
Long live the King said Merlin after himJ
Better for me that I shall not be KingL
Wherefore I say again Long live the KingL
And add God save him also and all kingsW
All kings and queens I speak in generalX
Kings have I known that were but weary menC
With no stout appetite for more than peaceY
That was not made for them Nor were they madeZ
For kings Gawaine said laughing You are youngA2
Gawaine and you may one day hold the worldB
Between your fingers knowing not what it isB2
That you are holding Better for you and meA
I think that we shall not be kingsW
-
GawaineC
Remembering Merlin s words of long agoU
Frowned as he thought and having frowned againC
He smiled and threw an acorn at a lizardO
There s more afoot and in the air to dayK
Than what is good for Camelot MerlinC
May or may not know all but he said wellC2
To say to me that he would not be KingL
Nor more would I be King Far down he gazedD2
On Camelot until he made of itE2
A phantom town of many stillnessesW
Not reared for men to dwell in or for kingsW
To reign in without omens and obscureF2
Familiars to bring terror to their daysW
For though a knight and one as hard at armsW
As any save the fate begotten fewG2
That all acknowledged or in envy loathedH2
He felt a foreign sort of creeping upI2
And down him as of moist things in the darkJ2
When Dagonet coming on him unawaresW
Presuming on his title of Sir FoolK2
Addressed him and crooned on till he was doneC
What look ye for to see Gawaine GawaineC
-
Sir Dagonet you best and wariestH2
Of all dishonest men I look through TimeL2
For sight of what it is that is to beA
I look to see it though I see it notH2
I see a town down there that holds a kingL
And over it I see a few small cloudsW
Like feathers in the west as you observeM2
And I shall see no more this afternoonC
Than what there is around us every dayH2
Unless you have a skill that I have notH2
To ferret the invisible for ratsW
-
If you see what s around us every dayH2
You need no other showing to go madH2
Remember that and take it home with youG2
And say tonight I had it of a foolK2
With no immediate obliquityH2
For this one or for that one or for meA
Gawaine having risen eyed the fool curiouslyA
I ll not forget I had it of a knightH2
Whose only folly is to fool himselfH
And as for making other men to laughN2
And so forget their sins and selves a littleX
There s no great folly there So keep it upI2
As long as you ve a legend or a songO2
And have whatever sport of us you likeP2
Till havoc is the word and we fall howlingL
For I ve a guess there may not be so loudH2
A sound of laughing here in CamelotH2
When Merlin goes again to his gay graveQ2
In Brittany To mention lesser terrorsW
Men say his beard is goneC
-
Do men say thatH2
A twitch of an impatient wearinessW
Played for a moment over the lean faceW
Of Dagonet who reasoned inwardlyA
The friendly zeal of this inquiring knightH2
Will overtake his tact and leave it squealingL
One of these days Gawaine looked hard at himJ
If I be too familiar with a foolK2
I m on the way to be another foolK2
He mused and owned a rueful qualm within himJ
Yes Dagonet he ventured with a laughN2
Men tell me that his beard has vanished whollyA
And that he shines now as the Lord s anointedH2
And wears the valiance of an ageless youthR2
Crowned with a glory of eternal peaceW
-
Dagonet smiling strangely shook his headH2
I grant your valiance of a kind of youthR2
To Merlin but your crown of peace I questionC
For though I know no more than any churlA
Who pinches any chambermaid soeverF2
In the King s palace I look not to MerlinC
For peace when out of his peculiar tombS2
He comes again to Camelot Time swingsW
A mighty scythe and some day all your peaceW
Goes down before its edge like so much cloverF2
No it is not for peace that Merlin comesW
Without a trumpet and without a beardH2
If what you say men say of him be trueF2
Nor yet for sudden warF2
-
Gawaine for a momentH2
Met then the ambiguous gaze of DagonetH2
And making nothing of it looked abroadH2
As if at something cheerful on all sidesW
And back again to the fool s unasking eyesW
Well Dagonet if Merlin would have peaceW
Let Merlin stay away from BrittanyA
Said he with admiration for the manC
Whom Folly called a fool And we have known himJ
We knew him once when he knew everythingL
-
He knew as much as God would let him knowC
Until he met the lady VivianC
I tell you that for the world knows all thatH2
Also it knows he told the King one dayH2
That he was to be buried and aliveT2
In Brittany and that the King should seeA
The face of him no more Then Merlin sailedH2
Away to Vivian in BroceliandeH2
Where now she crowns him and herself with flowersW
And feeds him fruits and wines and many foodsW
Of many savors and sweet ortolansW
Wise books of every lore of every landH2
Are there to fill his days if he require themU2
And there are players of all instrumentsW
Flutes hautboys drums and viols and she singsW
To Merlin till he trembles in her armsW
And there forgets that any town aliveT2
Had ever such a name as CamelotH2
So Vivian holds him with her love they sayW
And he who has no age has not grown oldH2
I swear to nothing but that s what they sayW
That s being buried in BroceliandeH2
For too much wisdom and clairvoyancyW
But you and all who live Gawaine have heardH2
This tale or many like it more than onceW
And you must know that Love when Love invitesW
Philosophy to play plays high and winsW
Or low and loses And you say to meA
If Merlin would have peace let Merlin stayH2
Away from Brittany Gawaine you are youngA2
And Merlin s in his graveQ2
-
Merlin said onceW
That I was young and it s a joy for meA
That I am here to listen while you say itH2
Young or not young if that be burialA
May I be buried long before I dieH2
I might be worse than young I might be oldH2
Dagonet answered and without a smileA
Somehow I fancy Merlin saying thatH2
A fancy a mere fancy Then he smiledH2
And such a doom as his may be for youF2
Gawaine should your untiring divinationC
Delve in the veiled eternal mysteriesW
Too far to be a pleasure for the LordH2
And when you stake your wisdom for a womanC

Edwin Arlington Robinson



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