The Cranes Of Ibycus Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABCDEDE CCFFGHGH IIJJKLKL MMNNHBHO PPQQRSRT UUIHCECE VVHHOWOW HHXXYZCA2 B2C2AAD2BD2B E2E2F2F2G2D2G2D2 TTH2H2I2J2I2J2 K2K2RRL2IL2I M2M2VVN2O2P2O2 Q2Q2R2R2S2I2S2I2 T2T2R2R2I2I2I2I2 IIU2V2W2LW2L S2S2S2S2I2HI2H X2X2ICS2S2S2S2 S2S2S2S2HLHL CCLLS2LS2L S2S2LLS2S2S2S2 LLS2S2S2S2S2S2 Y2Y2HHI2HI2H

Once to the song and chariot fightA
Where all the tribes of Greece uniteA
On Corinth's isthmus joyouslyB
The god loved Ibycus drew nighC
On him Apollo had bestowedD
The gift of song and strains inspiredE
So with light staff he took his roadD
From Rhegium by the godhead firedE
-
Acrocorinth on mountain highC
Now burns upon the wanderer's eyeC
And he begins with pious dreadF
Poseidon's grove of firs to treadF
Naught moves around him save a swarmG
Of cranes who guide him on his wayH
Who from far southern regions warmG
Have hither come in squadron grayH
-
Thou friendly band all hail to theeI
Who led'st me safely o'er the seaI
I deem thee as a favoring signJ
My destiny resembles thineJ
Both come from a far distant coastK
Both pray for some kind sheltering placeL
Propitious toward us be the hostK
Who from the stranger wards disgraceL
-
And on he hastes in joyous woodM
And reaches soon the middle woodM
When on a narrow bridge by forceN
Two murderers sudden bar his courseN
He must prepare him for the frayH
But soon his wearied hand sinks lowB
Inured the gentle lyre to playH
It ne'er has strung the deadly bowO
-
On gods and men for aid he criesP
No savior to his prayer repliesP
However far his voice he sendsQ
Naught living to his cry attendsQ
And must I in a foreign landR
Unwept deserted perish hereS
Falling beneath a murderous handR
Where no avenger can appearT
-
Deep wounded down he sinks at lastU
When lo the cranes' wings rustle pastU
He hears though he no more can seeI
Their voices screaming fearfullyH
By you ye cranes that soar on highC
If not another voice is heardE
Be borne to heaven my murder cryC
He speaks and dies too with the wordE
-
The naked corpse ere long is foundV
And though defaced by many a woundV
His host in Corinth soon could tellH
The features that he loved so wellH
And is it thus I find thee nowO
Who hoped the pine's victorious crownW
To place upon the singer's browO
Illumined by his bright renownW
-
The news is heard with grief by allH
Met at Poseidon's festivalH
All Greece is conscious of the smartX
He leaves a void in every heartX
And to the Prytanis swift hieY
The people and they urge him onZ
The dead man's manes to pacifyC
And with the murderer's blood atoneA2
-
But where's the trace that from the throngB2
The people's streaming crowds amongC2
Allured there by the sports so brightA
Can bring the villain back to lightA
By craven robbers was he slainD2
Or by some envious hidden foeB
That Helios only can explainD2
Whose rays illume all things belowB
-
Perchance with shameless step and proudE2
He threads e'en now the Grecian crowdE2
Whilst vengeance follows in pursuitF2
Gloats over his transgression's fruitF2
The very gods perchance he bravesG2
Upon the threshold of their faneD2
Joins boldly in the human wavesG2
That haste yon theatre to gainD2
-
For there the Grecian tribes appearT
Fast pouring in from far and nearT
On close packed benches sit they thereH2
The stage the weight can scarcely bearH2
Like ocean billows' hollow roarI2
The teaming crowds of living manJ2
Toward the cerulean heavens upsoarI2
In bow of ever widening spanJ2
-
Who knows the nation who the nameK2
Of all who there together cameK2
From Theseus' town from Aulis' strandR
From Phocis from the Spartan landR
From Asia's distant coast they wendL2
From every island of the seaI
And from the stage they hear ascendL2
The chorus's dread melodyI
-
Who sad and solemn as of oldM2
With footsteps measured and controlledM2
Advancing from the far backgroundV
Circle the theatre's wide roundV
Thus mortal women never moveN2
No mortal home to them gave birthO2
Their giant bodies tower aboveP2
High o'er the puny sons of earthO2
-
With loins in mantle black concealedQ2
Within their fleshless bands they wieldQ2
The torch that with a dull red glowsR2
While in their cheek no life blood flowsR2
And where the hair is floating wideS2
And loving round a mortal browI2
Here snakes and adders are descriedS2
Whose bellies swell with poison nowI2
-
And standing in a fearful ringT2
The dread and solemn chant they singT2
That through the bosom thrilling goesR2
And round the sinner fetters throwsR2
Sense robbing of heart maddening powerI2
The furies' strains resound through airI2
The listener's marrow they devourI2
The lyre can yield such numbers ne'erI2
-
Happy the man who blemish freeI
Preserves a soul of purityI
Near him we ne'er avenging comeU2
He freely o'er life's path may roamV2
But woe to him who hid from viewW2
Hath done the deed of murder baseL
Upon his heels we close pursueW2
We who belong to night's dark raceL
-
And if he thinks to 'scape by flightS2
Winged we appear our snare of mightS2
Around his flying feet to castS2
So that he needs must fall at lastS2
Thus we pursue him tiring ne'erI2
Our wrath repentance cannot quellH
On to the shadows and e'en thereI2
We leave him not in peace to dwellH
-
Thus singing they the dance resumeX2
And silence like that of the tombX2
O'er the whole house lies heavilyI
As if the deity were nighC
And staid and solemn as of oldS2
Circling the theatre's wide roundS2
With footsteps measured and controlledS2
They vanish in the far backgroundS2
-
Between deceit and truth each breastS2
Now doubting hangs by awe possessedS2
And homage pays to that dread mightS2
That judges what is hid from sightS2
That fathomless inscrutableH
The gloomy skein of fate entwinesL
That reads the bosom's depths full wellH
Yet flies away where sunlight shinesL
-
When sudden from the tier most highC
A voice is heard by all to cryC
See there see there TimotheusL
Behold the cranes of IbycusL
The heavens become as black as nightS2
And o'er the theatre they seeL
Far over head a dusky flightS2
Of cranes approaching hastilyL
-
Of Ibycus That name so blestS2
With new born sorrow fills each breastS2
As waves on waves in ocean riseL
From mouth to mouth it swiftly fliesL
Of Ibycus whom we lamentS2
Who fell beneath the murderer's handS2
What mean those words that from him wentS2
What means this cranes' advancing bandS2
-
And louder still become the criesL
And soon this thought foreboding fliesL
Through every heart with speed of lightS2
Observe in this the furies' mightS2
The poets manes are now appeasedS2
The murderer seeks his own arrestS2
Let him who spoke the word be seizedS2
And him to whom it was addressedS2
-
That word he had no sooner spokeY2
Than he its sound would fain invokeY2
In vain his mouth with terror paleH
Tells of his guilt the fearful taleH
Before the judge they drag them nowI2
The scene becomes the tribunalH
Their crimes the villains both avowI2
When neath the vengeance stroke they fallH

Friedrich Schiller



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