The Widow Of Crescentius : Part I. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDE FFGGHHIIJJ KKLMHHNNOOPPQQ RRSSTTUUVV WWXXYYZZA2A2OB2C2C2U USS HHD2D2E2E2F2F2 G2G2H2H2ZZHHI2I2J2J2 UUG2K2OQOO HHFFD2D2D2D2HHPPL2M2 KKPP B2B2OON2N2HHO2O2HHFF D2D2FFFF B2P2HHP2P2D2D2HHB2B2 D2D2Q2Q2 G2HD2D2D2D2D2D2HHHHF FN2N2HHL2L2 A2A2G2N2PPD2D2HHD2D2 D2D2D2D2D2D2D2D2 D2D2D2D2G2N2D2D2D2D2 PPFFBBG2N2HH HHG2G2D2D2D2D2FFD2D2 HHR2R2FFD2D2N2

'Midst Tivoli's luxuriant gladesA
Bright foaming falls and olive shadesA
Where dwelt in days departed longB
The sons of battle and of songB
No tree no shrub its foliage rearsC
But o'er the wrecks of other yearsC
Temples and domes which long have beenD
The soil of that enchanted sceneE
-
There the wild fig tree and the vineF
O'er Hadrian's mouldering villa twineF
The cypress in funeral graceG
Usurps the vanished column's placeG
O'er fallen shrine and ruined friezeH
The wall flower rustles in the breezeH
Acanthus leaves the marble hideI
They once adorned in sculptured prideI
And nature hath resumed her throneJ
O'er the vast works of ages flownJ
-
Was it for this that many a pileK
Pride of Hissus and of NileK
To Anio's banks the image lentL
Of each imperial monumentM
Now Athens weeps her shattered fanesH
Thy temples Egypt strew thy plainsH
And the proud fabrics Hadrian rearedN
From Tibur's vale have disappearedN
We need no prescient sibyl thereO
The doom of grandeur to declareO
Each stone where weeds and ivy climbP
Reveals some oracle of TimeP
Each relic utters Fate's decreeQ
The future as the past shall beQ
-
Halls of the dead in Tibur's valeR
Who now shall tell your lofty taleR
Who trace the high patrician's domeS
The bard's retreat the hero's homeS
When moss clad wrecks alone recordT
There dwelt the world's departed lordT
In scenes where verdure's rich arrayU
Still sheds young beauty o'er decayU
And sunshine on each glowing hillV
'Midst ruins finds a dwelling stillV
-
Sunk is thy palace but thy tombW
Hadrian hath shared a prouder doomW
Though vanished with the days of oldX
Its pillars of Corinthian mouldX
And the fair forms by sculpture wroughtY
Each bodying some immortal thoughtY
Which o'er that temple of the deadZ
Serene but solemn beauty shedZ
Have found like glory's self a graveA2
In Time's abyss or Tiber's waveA2
Yet dreams more lofty and more fairO
Than art's bold hand hath imaged e'erB2
High thoughts of many a mighty mindC2
Expanding when all else declinedC2
In twilight years when only theyU
Recalled the radiance passed awayU
Have made that ancient pile their homeS
Fortress of freedom and of RomeS
-
There he who strove in evil daysH
Again to kindle glory's raysH
Whose spirit sought a path of lightD2
For whose dim ages far too brightD2
Crescentius long maintained the strifeE2
Which closed but with its martyr's lifeE2
And left the imperial tomb a nameF2
A heritage of holier fameF2
-
There closed De Brescia's mission highG2
From thence the patriot came to dieG2
And thou whose Roman soul the lastH2
Spoke with the voice of ages pastH2
Whose thoughts so long from earth had fledZ
To mingle with the glorious deadZ
That 'midst the world's degenerate raceH
They vainly sought a dwelling placeH
Within that house of death didst broodI2
O'er visions to thy ruin wooedI2
Yet worthy of a brighter lotJ2
Rienzi be thy faults forgotJ2
For thou when all around thee layU
Chained in the slumbers of decayU
So sunk each heart that mortal eyeG2
Had scarce aK2
tearO
for libertyQ
Alone amidst the darkness thereO
Couldst gaze on Rome yet not despairO
-
'Tis morn and Nature's richest dyesH
Are floating o'er Italian skiesH
Tints of transparent lustre shineF
Along the snow clad AppennineF
The clouds have left Soracte's heightD2
And yellow Tiber winds in lightD2
Where tombs and fallen fanes have strewedD2
The wide Campagna's solitudeD2
'Tis sad amidst that scene to traceH
Those relics of a vanished raceH
Yet o'er the ravaged path of timeP
Such glory sheds that brilliant climeP
Where Nature still though empires fallL2
Holds her triumphant festivalM2
E'en Desolation wears a smileK
Where skies and sunbeams laugh the whileK
And heaven's own light earth's richest bloomP
Array the ruin and the tombP
-
But she who from yon convent towerB2
Breathes the pure freshness of the hourB2
She whose rich flow of raven hairO
Streams wildly on the morning airO
Heeds not how fair the scene belowN2
Robed in Italia's brightest glowN2
Though throned 'midst Latium's classic plainsH
The Eternal City's towers and fanesH
And they the Pleiades of earthO2
The seven proud hills of Empire's birthO2
Lie spread beneath not now her glanceH
Roves o'er that vast sublime expanseH
Inspired and bright with hope 'tis thrownF
On Adrian's massy tomb aloneF
There from the storm when Freedom fledD2
His faithful crew Crescentius ledD2
While she his anxious bride who nowF
Bends o'er the scene her youthful browF
Sought refuge in the hallowed faneF
Which then conflict shelter not in vainF
-
But now the lofty strife is o'erB2
And Liberty shall weep no moreP2
At length Imperial Otho's voiceH
Bids her devoted sons rejoiceH
And he who battled to restoreP2
The glories and the rights of yoreP2
Whose accents like the clarion's soundD2
Could burst the dead repose aroundD2
Again his native Rome shall seeH
The sceptred city of the freeH
And youth Stephania waits the hourB2
When leaves her lord his fortress towerB2
Her ardent heart with joy elateD2
That seems beyond the reach of fateD2
Her mien like creature from aboveQ2
All vivified with hope and loveQ2
-
Fair is her form and in her eyeG2
Lives all the soul of ItalyH
A meaning lofty and inspiredD2
As by her native day star firedD2
Such wild and high expression fraughtD2
With glances of impassioned thoughtD2
As fancy sheds in visions brightD2
O'er priestess of the God of LightD2
And the dark locks that lend her faceH
A youthful and luxuriant graceH
Wave o'er her cheek whose kindling dyesH
Seem from the fire within to riseH
But deepened by the burning heavenF
To her own land of sunbeams givenF
Italian art that fervid glowN2
Would o'er ideal beauty throwN2
And with such ardent life expressH
Her high wrought dreams of lovelinessH
Dreams which surviving Empire's fallL2
The shade of glory still recallL2
-
But see the banner of the braveA2
O'er Adrian's tomb hath ceased to waveA2
'Tis lowered and now Stephania's eyeG2
Can well the martial train descryN2
Who issuing from that ancient domeP
Pour through the crowded streets of RomeP
Now from her watch tower on the heightD2
With step as fabled wood nymph's lightD2
She flies and swift her way pursuesH
Through the lone convent's avenuesH
Dark cypress groves and fields o'erspreadD2
With records of the conquering deadD2
And paths which track a glowing wasteD2
She traverses in breathless hasteD2
And by the tombs where dust is shrinedD2
Once tenanted by loftiest mindD2
Still passing on hath reached the gateD2
Of Rome the proud the desolateD2
Thronged are the streets and still renewedD2
Rush on the gathering multitudeD2
-
Is it their high souled chief to greetD2
That thus the Roman thousands meetD2
With names that bid their thoughts ascendD2
Crescentius thine in song to blendD2
And of triumphal days gone byG2
Recall the inspiring pageantryN2
There is an air of breathless dreadD2
An eager glance a hurrying treadD2
And now a fearful silence roundD2
And now a fitful murmuring soundD2
'Midst the pale crowds that almost seemP
Phantoms of some tumultuous dreamP
Quick is each step and wild each mienF
Portentous of some awful sceneF
Bride of Crescentius as the throngB
Bore thee with whelming force alongB
How did thine anxious heart beat highG2
Till rose suspense to agonyN2
Too brief suspense that soon shall closeH
And leave thy heart to deeper woesH
-
Who 'midst yon guarded precinct standsH
With fearless mien but fettered handsH
The ministers of death are nighG2
Yet a calm grandeur lights his eyeG2
And in his glance there lives a mindD2
Which was not formed for chains to bindD2
But cast in such heroic mouldD2
As theirs the ascendant ones of oldD2
Crescentius freedom's daring sonF
Is this the guerdon thou hast wonF
O worthy to have lived and diedD2
In the bright days of Latium's prideD2
Thus must the beam of glory closeH
O'er the seven hills again that roseH
When at thy voice to burst the yokeR2
The soul of Rome indignant wokeR2
Vain dream the sacred shields are goneF
Sunk is the crowning city's throneF
The illusions that around her castD2
Their guardian spells have long been pastD2
Thy life hath been a shorN2

Felicia Dorothea Hemans



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