Scenes Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDDEEFG HHIIJJKKLLMMNN IIOOOOPPQQRRSSMMTU OOVVOOJJOOVVWWOOXXYY BBOOHHZA2OOXXB2B2OOC 2C2UUJUOOUUD2D2OBUU UUE2E2UUXXJJF2F2OOG2 G2UUD2D2OOHHXXH2H2OO OOD2D2I2I2

Observe ye not yon high cliff's browA
Up which a wanderer clambers slowB
'T is by a hoary ruin crown'dC
Which rocks when shrill winds whistle roundC
That is an ancient knightly holdD
Alas it droops deserted coldD
And sad and cheerless seems to gazeE
Back back to yon heroic daysE
When youthful Kemps completely arm'dF
And lovely maids around it swarm'dG
-
You in the tower a hole may seeH
A window there has ceas'd to beH
From that once lean'd a damsel brightI
In evening's red and fading lightI
And star'd intently down the wayJ
Up which should come her lover gayJ
But time it flies on rapid wingK
Far off a church is toweringK
Within it stand two marble stonesL
That rest above the lovers' bonesL
But see the wanderer with painM
Has reach'd the pile he wish'd to gainM
Whilst Sol behind the ruin'd wallsN
Down into sacred nature fallsN
-
See there two hostile nobles fightI
With tiger rage and giant mightI
There's seen no smoke there's heard no shotO
For guns and powder yet were notO
'T was custom then when foemen warr'dO
To win or lose with spear and swordO
A wild heroic song they yellP
And each the other seeks to fellP
Oft oft her ownself to destroyQ
Her own hand nature does employQ
There casts the hill up fire flakesR
And Earth's gigantic body quakesR
There lightnings through the high blue flashS
And ocean's billows wildly dashS
There men 'gainst men their muscles strainM
And deal out death and wounds and painM
O Nature to thyself show lessT
Of hate and more of tendernessU
-
How dusky is the air aroundO
We are no more above the groundO
But down we wend within the hillV
Whose springs our ears with hissings fillV
See there how rich the ruddy goldO
Winds snakeways 'midst the clammy mouldO
And hard green stone By torches' rayJ
The harvest there men mow awayJ
But see ye not yon gath'ring cloudO
Which 'gainst them cometh paley proudO
That holds the spirit of the hillV
Who brings death in its hand so chillV
If down they do not quickly fallW
Most certainly 't will slay them allW
For sorely wrathful is its moodO
Because they break its solitudeO
Because its treasure off they bearX
And fling light o'er its gloomy lairX
'T is white and Kobbold is the nameY
Which it from oldest days does claimY
-
Now back at once into time we goB
For many a hundred years I trowB
A gothic chamber salutes your sightO
A taper gleams feebly through the nightO
A ghostly man by the board you seeH
With his hand to his temples muses heH
Parchments with age discolour'd and dunZ
Ancient shields all written uponA2
Tree bark bearing ciphers half defac'dO
Stones with Runes and characters grac'dO
Things of more worth than ye are awareX
On the mighty table are pil'd up thereX
He gazes now in exstatic tranceB2
Through the casement out into nature's expanseB2
Whene'er we sit at the lone midnightO
And stare out into the dubious lightO
Whilst the pallid moon is peering o'erC2
Ruin'd cloister and crumbling towerC2
Feelings so wondrous strange come o'er usU
The past and the future arise before usU
The present fadeth unmark'd awayJ
In the garb of insignificancyU
He gazes up into nature's heightO
The noble man with his eye so brightO
He gazes up to the starry skiesU
Whither sooner or later we hope to riseU
And now he takes in haste the penD2
And the spirit of Oldom flows from it amainD2
The scatter'd Goth songs he changes untoO
An Epic which maketh each bosom to glowB
Thanks to the old Monk toiling thusU
They call him Saxo GrammaticusU
-
An open field before you liesU
A wind burst o'er its bosom sighsU
Now all is still all seems asleepE2
'Midst of the field there stands a heapE2
Upon the heap stand Runic stonesU
Thereunder rest gigantic bonesU
From Arild's time that heap stands thereX
But now 't is till'd with utmost careX
In order that its owner mayJ
Thereoff reap golden corn one dayJ
Oft has he tried the niggard soulF2
The mighty stones away to rollF2
As useless burdens of his groundO
But they for that too big were foundO
See see the moon through cloud and rackG2
Looks down upon the letters blackG2
And when the ghost its form uprearsU
He shines upon its bursting tearsU
For oh the moon's an ancient manD2
Describe him mortal tongue ne'er canD2
He shines alike serene and brightO
At midmost hour of witching nightO
Upon the spot of love and gleeH
And on the gloomy gallows treeH
Upon each Rune behold him stareX
While off he hastes through fields of airX
He understands those signs I'll gageH2
Whose meaning lies in sunken ageH2
And if he were in speaking stateO
No doubt the old man could relateO
Strange things that have on earth occurr'dO
Of which fame ne'er has said a wordO
But since with look with look aloneD2
He cannot those events make knownD2
He waketh from his height sublimeI2
Mere longing for the dark gone timeI2

George Borrow



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