Meg's Curse Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDEFG HIJKLJMJ NOPOQRQ SLTLUVWV AH HX Y ZA2 B2C2D2 LJEJ SAE2AF2G2H2G2 CI2J2I2K2L2M2L2 CN2O2N2M P2O2 CQ2R2Q2S2T2U2T2 CLV2LN2PL W2O2D2O2N2B2K2B2The sun rode high in a cloudless sky | A |
Of a perfect summer morn | B |
She stood and gazed out into the street | C |
And wondered why she was born | B |
On the topmost branch of a maple tree | D |
That close by the window grew | E |
A robin called to his mate enthralled | F |
'I love but you but you but you ' | G |
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A soft look came in her hardened face | H |
She had not wept for years | I |
But the robin's trill as some sounds will | J |
Jarred open the door of tears | K |
She thought of the old home far away | L |
She heard the whir r r of the mill | J |
She heard the turtle's wild sweet call | M |
And the wail of the whip poor will whip poor will whip poor will | J |
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She saw again that dusty road | N |
Whence he came riding down | O |
She smelled once more the flower she wore | P |
In the breast of her simple gown | O |
Out on the new mown meadow she heard | Q |
Two blue jays quarrel and fret | R |
And the warning cry of a Phoebe bird | Q |
'More wet more wet more wet ' | - |
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With a blithe 'hello' to the men below | S |
Who were spreading the new mown hay | L |
The rider drew rein at her window pane | T |
How it all came back to day | L |
How young she was and how fair she was | U |
What innocence crowned her brow | V |
The future seemed fair for Love was there | W |
And now and now and now | V |
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In a dingy glass on the wall near by | A |
She gazed on her faded face | H |
'Well Meg I declare what a beauty you are ' | - |
She sneered 'What an angel of grace | H |
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha | X |
What a thing of beauty and grace ' | - |
She reached out her arms with a moaning sob | Y |
'Oh if I could go back ' | - |
Then swift and strange came a sudden change | Z |
Her brow grew hard and black | A2 |
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'A curse on the day and a curse on that man | B2 |
And on all who are his ' she cried | C2 |
'May he starve and be cold may he live to be old | D2 |
When all who loved him have died ' | - |
Her wild voice frightened the robin away | L |
From the branch by the window sill | J |
And little he knew as away he flew | E |
Of the memories stirred by his trill | J |
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He called to his mate on the grass below | S |
'Follow me ' as he soared on high | A |
And as mates have done since the world begun | E2 |
She followed and asked not why | A |
The dingy room seemed curtained with gloom | F2 |
Meg shivered with nameless dread | G2 |
The ghost of her youth and her murdered truth | H2 |
Seemed risen up from the dead | G2 |
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She hurried out into the noisy street | C |
For the silence made her afraid | I2 |
To flee from thought was all she sought | J2 |
She cared not whither she strayed | I2 |
Still on she pressed in her wild unrest | K2 |
Up avenues skirting the park | L2 |
Where fashion's throng moved gayly along | M2 |
In Vanity Fair when hark | L2 |
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A clatter of hoofs down the stony street | C |
The snort of a frightened horse | N2 |
That was running wild and a laughing child | O2 |
At play in its very course | N2 |
With one swift glance Meg saw it all | M |
'His child my God his child ' | - |
She cried aloud as she rushed through the crowd | P2 |
Like one grown suddenly wild | O2 |
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There almost under the iron feet | C |
Hemmed in by a passing cart | Q2 |
Stood the baby boy the pride and joy | R2 |
Of the man who had broken her heart | Q2 |
Past swooning women and shouting men | S2 |
She fled like a flash of light | T2 |
With her slender arm she gathered from harm | U2 |
The form of the laughing sprite | T2 |
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The death shod feet of the mad horse beat | C |
Her down on the pavings gray | L |
But the baby laughed out with a merry shout | V2 |
And thought it splendid play | L |
He pulled her gown and called to her 'Say | N2 |
Dit up and do dat some more | P |
Das jus'ze way my papa play | L |
Wiz me on ze nursery floor ' | - |
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When the frightened father reached the scene | W2 |
His boy looked up and smiled | O2 |
From the stiffening fold of the arm death cold | D2 |
Of Meg who had died for his child | O2 |
Oh idle words are a woman's curse | N2 |
Who loves a woman can | B2 |
For put to the test she will bare her breast | K2 |
And die for the sake of the man | B2 |
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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