A Curse For A Nation Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABC AADD AAB AAE DDAA FFGH IIJE AAK AAA LLM AAFF AAA AABB N OOAPPA AAAQQA RRABSA DDARRAA TTUVVWA DDXYYXA AAZA2A2B2A C2C2DDDDA AAD2RRD2A EEE2NNF2AI heard an angel speak last night | A |
And he said 'Write | A |
Write a Nation's curse for me | B |
And send it over the Western Sea ' | C |
- | |
I faltered taking up the word | A |
'Not so my lord | A |
If curses must be choose another | D |
To send thy curse against my brother | D |
- | |
'For I am bound by gratitude | A |
By love and blood | A |
To brothers of mine across the sea | B |
Who stretch out kindly hands to me ' | - |
- | |
'Therefore ' the voice said 'shalt thou write | A |
My curse to night | A |
From the summits of love a curse is driven | E |
As lightning is from the tops of heaven ' | - |
- | |
'Not so ' I answered 'Evermore | D |
My heart is sore | D |
For my own land's sins for little feet | A |
Of children bleeding along the street | A |
- | |
'For parked up honors that gainsay | F |
The right of way | F |
For almsgiving through a door that is | G |
Not open enough for two friends to kiss | H |
- | |
'For love of freedom which abates | I |
Beyond the Straits | I |
For patriot virtue starved to vice on | J |
Self praise self interest and suspicion | E |
- | |
'For an oligarchic parliament | A |
And bribes well meant | A |
What curse to another land assign | K |
When heavy souled for the sins of mine ' | - |
- | |
'Therefore ' the voice said 'shalt thou write | A |
My curse to night | A |
Because thou hast strength to see and hate | A |
A foul thing done within thy gate ' | - |
- | |
'Not so ' I answered once again | L |
'To curse choose men | L |
For I a woman have only known | M |
How the heart melts and the tears run down ' | - |
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'Therefore ' the voice said 'shalt thou write | A |
My curse to night | A |
Some women weep and curse I say | F |
And no one marvels night and day | F |
- | |
'And thou shalt take their part to night | A |
Weep and write | A |
A curse from the depths of womanhood | A |
Is very salt and bitter and good ' | - |
- | |
So thus I wrote and mourned indeed | A |
What all may read | A |
And thus as was enjoined on me | B |
I send it over the Western Sea | B |
- | |
The Curse | N |
- | |
Because ye have broken your own chain | O |
With the strain | O |
Of brave men climbing a Nation's height | A |
Yet thence bear down with brand and thong | P |
On souls of others for this wrong | P |
This is the curse Write | A |
- | |
Because yourselves are standing straight | A |
In the state | A |
Of Freedom's foremost acolyte | A |
Yet keep calm footing all the time | Q |
On writhing bond slaves for this crime | Q |
This is the curse Write | A |
- | |
Because ye prosper in God's name | R |
With a claim | R |
To honor in the old world's sight | A |
Yet do the fiend's work perfectly | B |
In strangling martyrs for this lie | S |
This is the curse Write | A |
- | |
Ye shall watch while kings conspire | D |
Round the people's smouldering fire | D |
And warm for your part | A |
Shall never dare O shame | R |
To utter the thought into flame | R |
Which burns at your heart | A |
This is the curse Write | A |
- | |
Ye shall watch while nations strive | T |
With the bloodhounds die or survive | T |
Drop faint from their jaws | U |
Or throttle them backward to death | V |
And only under your breath | V |
Shall favor the cause | W |
This is the curse Write | A |
- | |
Ye shall watch while strong men draw | D |
The nets of feudal law | D |
To strangle the weak | X |
And counting the sin for a sin | Y |
Your soul shall be sadder within | Y |
Than the word ye shall speak | X |
This is the curse Write | A |
- | |
When good men are praying erect | A |
That Christ may avenge His elect | A |
And deliver the earth | Z |
The prayer in your ears said low | A2 |
Shall sound like the tramp of a foe | A2 |
That's driving you forth | B2 |
This is the curse Write | A |
- | |
When wise men give you their praise | C2 |
They shall praise in the heat of the phrase | C2 |
As if carried too far | D |
When ye boast your own charters kept true | D |
Ye shall blush for the thing which ye do | D |
Derides what ye are | D |
This is the curse Write | A |
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When fools cast taunts at your gate | A |
Your scorn ye shall somewhat abate | A |
As ye look o'er the wall | D2 |
For your conscience tradition and name | R |
Explode with a deadlier blame | R |
Than the worst of them all | D2 |
This is the curse Write | A |
- | |
Go wherever ill deeds shall be done | E |
Go plant your flag in the sun | E |
Beside the ill doers | E2 |
And recoil from clenching the curse | N |
Of God's witnessing Universe | N |
With a curse of yours | F2 |
This is the curse Write | A |
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
(1)
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