Black Bess Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDD EEFFGGH IIJJKKLL MMNNOOPP QQRSBBTT UUQQVVP| TURPIN had his Black Bess and she carried him well | A |
| As fame with her loud breathing trumpet will tell | A |
| She knew not the lash and she suffered no spur | B |
| A bold rider was all that was needed by her | B |
| That rider grew pallid and cautious with fear | C |
| There was danger around him and death in the rear | C |
| But he mocked at the legion of foes on his track | D |
| When he found himself firm on his bonnie steed's back | D |
| - | |
| She carried him on as no steed did before | E |
| She travelled as courser will never do more | E |
| Bounding on like the wild deer she scarce left a trace | F |
| On the road or the turf of her antelope pace | F |
| The pistol was levelled what was it to Dick | G |
| The shot might be rapid but Bess was as quick | G |
| 'Ha Ha ' shouted Turpin 'a horse and a man | H |
| Are fair marks for your bullets to reach if they can ' | - |
| - | |
| The mountain was high and the valley was deep | I |
| She sprang up the hill and she flew down the steep | I |
| She came to the waste rough with furrow and weed | J |
| But the brushwood and gap were no checks to her speed | J |
| She dashed through the stream and she climbed the broad bank | K |
| With no word to urge forward no heel to her flank | K |
| The gate with its padlock might stand in her way | L |
| It took more than five bars to keep Black Bess at bay | L |
| - | |
| She kept her career up for many a league | M |
| With no slackening of pace and no sign of fatigue | M |
| Right onward she went till she staggered and dropped | N |
| But her limbs only failed when her heart pulse had stopped | N |
| Her dare devil rider lived on for a while | O |
| And told of her work with a triumphing smile | O |
| And the fame of Dick Turpin had been something less | P |
| If he'd ne'er rode to York on his bonnie Black Bess | P |
| - | |
| Here's a health to her memory shirk it who dare | Q |
| If you love what is noble pledge Turpin's brave mare | Q |
| And the draught will be welcome the wine will be good | R |
| If it have half the spirit and strength of her blood | S |
| May the steed that comes nigh her in courage and fire | B |
| Carry rider more worthy to make its heart tire | B |
| Though she saved him and died to prove what she could do | T |
| Yet her life was most precious by far of the two | T |
| - | |
| I live on the sea and I'm lord of a ship | U |
| That starts from her rest like a hound from the slip | U |
| Her speed is unrivalled her beauty is rare | Q |
| But her timbers are black as the highwayman's mare | Q |
| From her keel spanning beam to her sky greeting spar | V |
| She's as dark as a midnight without moon or star | V |
| Her name boys her name you may easily guess | P |
| She is christened right nobly 'The Bonnie Black Bess ' | - |
Eliza Cook
(1)
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