Darkness Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIHHJKHHLMNOH PIHQRSGTLUVWXHYZZA2B 2C2D2E2F2UG2H2I2J2FG ZK2L2M2N2O2M2HHTHE2P 2TM2M2FQ2M2R2HFS2HHM 2T2U2A2EM2H L

I had a dream which was not all a dreamA
The bright sun was extinguish'd and the starsB
Did wander darkling in the eternal spaceC
Rayless and pathless and the icy earthD
Swung blind and blackening in the moon less airE
Morn came and went and came and brought no dayF
And men forgot their passions in the dreadG
Of this their desolation and all heartsH
Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for lightI
And they did live by watchfires and the thronesH
The palaces of crowned kings the hutsH
The habitations of all things which dwellJ
Were burnt for beacons cities were consumedK
And men were gather'd round their blazing homesH
To look once more into each other's faceH
Happy were those who dwelt within the eyeL
Of the volcanos and their mountain torchM
A fearful hope was all the world contain'dN
Forests were set on fire but hour by hourO
They fell and faded and the crackling trunksH
Extinguish'd with a crash and all was blackP
The brows of men by the despairing lightI
Wore an unearthly aspect as by fitsH
The flashes fell upon them some lay downQ
And hid their eyes and wept and some did restR
Their chins upon their clenched hands and smiledS
And others hurried to and fro and fedG
Their funeral piles with fuel and look'd upT
With mad disquietude on the dull skyL
The pall of a past world and then againU
With curses cast them down upon the dustV
And gnash'd their teeth and howl'd the wild birds shriek'dW
And terrified did flutter on the groundX
And flap their useless wings the wildest brutesH
Came tame and tremulous and vipers crawl'dY
And twined themselves among the multitudeZ
Hissing but stingless were slain for foodZ
And War which for a moment was no moreA2
Did glut himself again a meal was boughtB2
With blood and each sate sullenly apartC2
Gorging himself in gloom no love was leftD2
All earth was but one thought and that was deathE2
Immediate and inglorious and the pangF2
Of famine fed upon all entrails menU
Died and their bones were tombless as their fleshG2
The meagre by the meagre were devour'dH2
Even dogs assail'd their masters all save oneI2
And he was faithful to a Gorse and keptJ2
The birds and beasts and famish'd men at bayF
Till hunger clung them or the dropping deadG
Lured their lank jaws himself sought out no foodZ
But with a piteous and perpetual moanK2
And a quick desolate cry licking the handL2
Which answer'd not with a caress he diedM2
The crowd was famish'd by degrees but twoN2
Of an enormous city did surviveO2
And they were enemies they met besideM2
The dying embers of an altar placeH
Where had been heap'd a mass of holy thingsH
For an unholy usage they raked upT
And shivering scraped with their cold skeleton handsH
The feeble ashes and their feeble breathE2
Blew for a little life and made a flameP2
Which was a mockery then they lifted upT
Their eyes as it grew lighter and beheldM2
Each other's aspects saw and shriek'd and diedM2
Even of their mutual hideousness theyF
Unknowing who he was upon whose browQ2
Famine had written Fiend The world was voidM2
The populous and the powerful was a lumpR2
Seasonless herbless treeless manless lifelessH
A lump of death a chaos of hard clayF
The rivers lakes and ocean all stood stillS2
And nothing stirr'd within their silent depthsH
Ships sailorless lay rotting on the seaH
And their masts fell down piecemeal as they dropp'dM2
They slept on the abyss without a surgeT2
The waves were dead the tides were in their graveU2
The moon their mistress had expired beforeA2
The winds were wither'd in the stagnant airE
And the clouds perish'd Darkness had no needM2
Of aid from them She was the UniverseH
-
Diodati JulyL

George Gordon Byron



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