Cape Breton Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABBCDEFGHIJKL MBNOPMQCR SMNTUVVWXXYZA2B2C2GD 2 ZE2F2G2WH2GDI2J2K2W F2L2M2N2

A
the razorbill auks and the silly looking puffins all standB
with their backs to the mainlandB
in solemn uneven lines along the cliff's brown grass frayed edgeC
while the few sheep pastured there go Baaa baaaD
Sometimes frightened by aeroplanes they stampedeE
and fall over into the sea or onto the rocksF
The silken water is weaving and weavingG
disappearing under the mist equally in all directionsH
lifted and penetrated now and thenI
by one shag's dripping serpent neckJ
and somewhere the mist incorporates the pulseK
rapid but unurgent of a motor boatL
-
The same mist hangs in thin layersM
among the valleys and gorges of the mainlandB
like rotting snow ice sucked awayN
almost to spirit the ghosts of glaciers driftO
among those folds and folds of fir spruce and hackmatackP
dull dead deep pea cock colorsM
each riser distinguished from the nextQ
by an irregular nervous saw tooth edgeC
alike but certain as a stereoscopic viewR
-
The wild road clambers along the brink of the coastS
On it stand occasional small yellow bulldozersM
but without their drivers because today is SundayN
The little white churches have been dropped into the matted hillsT
like lost quartz arrowheadsU
The road appears to have been abandonedV
Whatever the landscape had of meaning appears to have been abandonedV
unless the road is holding it back in the interiorW
where we cannot seeX
where deep lakes are reputed to beX
and disused trails and mountains of rockY
and miles of burnt forests standing in gray scratchesZ
like the admirable scriptures made on stones by stonesA2
and these regions now have little to say for themselvesB2
except in thousands of light song sparrow songs floating upwardC2
freely dispassionately through the mist and meshingG
in brown wet fine torn fish netsD2
-
A small bus comes along in up and down rushesZ
packed with people even to its stepE2
On weekdays with groceries spare automobile parts and pump partsF2
but today only two preachers extra one carrying his frock coat on aG2
hangerW
It passes the closed roadside stand the closed schoolhouseH2
where today no flag is flyingG
from the rough adzed pole topped with a white china doorknobD
It stops and a man carrying a bay gets offI2
climbs over a stile and goes down through a small steep meadowJ2
which establishes its poverty in a snowfall of daisiesK2
to his invisible house beside the waterW
-
The birds keep on singing a calf bawls the bus startsF2
The thin mist followsL2
the white mutations of its dreamM2
an ancient chill is rippling the dark brooksN2

Elizabeth Bishop



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