A Song Of Defeat Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABACDEDEFGFGHHAH HIHIJKJKLMLMNNAN AOAOFPFPQRQRAAAAThe line breaks and the guns go under | A |
The lords and the lackeys ride the plain | B |
I draw deep breaths of the dawn and thunder | A |
And the whole of my heart grows young again | C |
For our chiefs said 'Done ' and I did not deem it | D |
Our seers said 'Peace ' and it was not peace | E |
Earth will grow worse till men redeem it | D |
And wars more evil ere all wars cease | E |
But the old flags reel and the old drums rattle | F |
As once in my life they throbbed and reeled | G |
I have found my youth in the lost battle | F |
I have found my heart on the battlefield | G |
For we that fight till the world is free | H |
We are not easy in victory | H |
We have known each other too long my brother | A |
And fought each other the world and we | H |
- | |
And I dream of the days when work was scrappy | H |
And rare in our pockets the mark of the mint | I |
When we were angry and poor and happy | H |
And proud of seeing our names in print | I |
For so they conquered and so we scattered | J |
When the Devil road and his dogs smelt gold | K |
And the peace of a harmless folk was shattered | J |
When I was twenty and odd years old | K |
When the mongrel men that the market classes | L |
Had slimy hands upon England's rod | M |
And sword in hand upon Afric's passes | L |
Her last Republic cried to God | M |
For the men no lords can buy or sell | N |
They sit not easy when all goes well | N |
They have said to each other what naught can smother | A |
They have seen each other our souls and hell | N |
- | |
It is all as of old the empty clangour | A |
The Nothing scrawled on a five foot page | O |
The huckster who mocking holy anger | A |
Painfully paints his face with rage | O |
And the faith of the poor is faint and partial | F |
And the pride of the rich is all for sale | P |
And the chosen heralds of England's Marshal | F |
Are the sandwich men of the Daily Mail | P |
And the niggards that dare not give are glutted | Q |
And the feeble that dare not fail are strong | R |
So while the City of Toil is gutted | Q |
I sit in the saddle and sing my song | R |
For we that fight till the world is free | A |
We have no comfort in victory | A |
We have read each other as Cain his brother | A |
We know each other these slaves and we | A |
G. K. Chesterton
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about A Song Of Defeat poem by G. K. Chesterton
Best Poems of G. K. Chesterton