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 W2O2D2O2N2B2K2B2

The sun rode high in a cloudless skyA
Of a perfect summer mornB
She stood and gazed out into the streetC
And wondered why she was bornB
On the topmost branch of a maple treeD
That close by the window grewE
A robin called to his mate enthralledF
'I love but you but you but you 'G
-
-
A soft look came in her hardened faceH
She had not wept for yearsI
But the robin's trill as some sounds willJ
Jarred open the door of tearsK
She thought of the old home far awayL
She heard the whir r r of the millJ
She heard the turtle's wild sweet callM
And the wail of the whip poor will whip poor will whip poor willJ
-
-
She saw again that dusty roadN
Whence he came riding downO
She smelled once more the flower she woreP
In the breast of her simple gownO
Out on the new mown meadow she heardQ
Two blue jays quarrel and fretR
And the warning cry of a Phoebe birdQ
'More wet more wet more wet '-
-
-
With a blithe 'hello' to the men belowS
Who were spreading the new mown hayL
The rider drew rein at her window paneT
How it all came back to dayL
How young she was and how fair she wasU
What innocence crowned her browV
The future seemed fair for Love was thereW
And now and now and nowV
-
-
In a dingy glass on the wall near byA
She gazed on her faded faceH
'Well Meg I declare what a beauty you are '-
She sneered 'What an angel of graceH
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haX
What a thing of beauty and grace '-
She reached out her arms with a moaning sobY
'Oh if I could go back '-
Then swift and strange came a sudden changeZ
Her brow grew hard and blackA2
-
-
'A curse on the day and a curse on that manB2
And on all who are his ' she criedC2
'May he starve and be cold may he live to be oldD2
When all who loved him have died '-
Her wild voice frightened the robin awayL
From the branch by the window sillJ
And little he knew as away he flewE
Of the memories stirred by his trillJ
-
-
He called to his mate on the grass belowS
'Follow me ' as he soared on highA
And as mates have done since the world begunE2
She followed and asked not whyA
The dingy room seemed curtained with gloomF2
Meg shivered with nameless dreadG2
The ghost of her youth and her murdered truthH2
Seemed risen up from the deadG2
-
-
She hurried out into the noisy streetC
For the silence made her afraidI2
To flee from thought was all she soughtJ2
She cared not whither she strayedI2
Still on she pressed in her wild unrestK2
Up avenues skirting the parkL2
Where fashion's throng moved gayly alongM2
In Vanity Fair when harkL2
-
-
A clatter of hoofs down the stony streetC
The snort of a frightened horseN2
That was running wild and a laughing childO2
At play in its very courseN2
With one swift glance Meg saw it allM
'His child my God his child '-
She cried aloud as she rushed through the crowdP2
Like one grown suddenly wildO2
-
-
There almost under the iron feetC
Hemmed in by a passing cartQ2
Stood the baby boy the pride and joyR2
Of the man who had broken her heartQ2
Past swooning women and shouting menS2
She fled like a flash of lightT2
With her slender arm she gathered from harmU2
The form of the laughing spriteT2
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The death shod feet of the mad horse beatC
Her down on the pavings grayL
But the baby laughed out with a merry shoutV2
And thought it splendid playL
He pulled her gown and called to her 'SayN2
Dit up and do dat some moreP
Das jus'ze way my papa playL
Wiz me on ze nursery floor '-
-
-
When the frightened father reached the sceneW2
His boy looked up and smiledO2
From the stiffening fold of the arm death coldD2
Of Meg who had died for his childO2
Oh idle words are a woman's curseN2
Who loves a woman canB2
For put to the test she will bare her breastK2
And die for the sake of the manB2

Ella Wheeler Wilcox



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