The Island: Canto Iv. Poem Rhyme Scheme

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I	A
White as a white sail on a dusky sea	B
When half the horizon 's clouded and half free	B
Fluttering between the dun wave and the sky	A
Is Hope's last gleam in Man's extremity	B
Her anchor parts but still her snowy sail	C
Attracts our eye amidst the rudest gale	C
Though every wave she climbs divides us more	D
The heart still follows from the loneliest shore	D
	-
II	A
Not distant from the isle of Toobonai	E
A black rock rears its bosom o'er the spray	F
The haunt of birds a desert to mankind	G
Where the rough seal reposes from the wind	G
And sleeps unwieldy in his cavern dun	E
Or gambols with huge frolic in the sun	E
There shrilly to the passing oar is heard	H
The startled echo of the Ocean bird	H
Who rears on its bare breast her callow brood	I
The feathered fishers of the solitude	I
A narrow segment of the yellow sand	J
On one side forms the outline of a strand	J
Here the young turtle crawling from his shell	K
Steals to the deep wherein his parents dwell	K
Chipped by the beam a nursling of the day	F
But hatched for ocean by the fostering ray	F
The rest was one bleak precipice as e'er	L
Gave mariners a shelter and despair	M
A spot to make the saved regret the deck	N
Which late went down and envy the lost wreck	N
Such was the stern asylum Neuha chose	O
To shield her lover from his following foes	O
But all its secret was not told she knew	E
In this a treasure hidden from the view	E
	-
III	A
Ere the canoes divided near the spot	P
The men that manned what held her Torquil's lot	P
By her command removed to strengthen more	D
The skiff which wafted Christian from the shore	D
This he would have opposed but with a smile	Q
She pointed calmly to the craggy isle	Q
And bade him 'speed and prosper ' She would take	R
The rest upon herself for Torquil's sake	R
They parted with this added aid afar	S
The Proa darted like a shooting star	S
And gained on the pursuers who now steered	T
Right on the rock which she and Torquil neared	T
They pulled her arm though delicate was free	B
And firm as ever grappled with the sea	B
And yielded scarce to Torquil's manlier strength	U
The prow now almost lay within its length	U
Of the crag's steep inexorable face	V
With nought but soundless waters for its base	V
Within a hundred boats' length was the foe	W
And now what refuge but their frail canoe	E
This Torquil asked with half upbraiding eye	A
Which said 'Has Neuha brought me here to die	A
Is this a place of safety or a grave	X
And yon huge rock the tombstone of the wave '	-
	-
IV	X
They rested on their paddles and uprose	V
Neuha and pointing to the approaching foes	V
Cried 'Torquil follow me and fearless follow '	-
Then plunged at once into the Ocean's hollow	W
There was no time to pause the foes were near	Y
Chains in his eye and menace in his ear	Z
With vigour they pulled on and as they came	A2
Hailed him to yield and by his forfeit name	A2
Headlong he leapt to him the swimmer's skill	B2
Was native and now all his hope from ill	B2
But how or where He dived and rose no more	D
The boat's crew looked amazed o'er sea and shore	D
There was no landing on that precipice	V
Steep harsh and slippery as a berg of ice	V
They watched awhile to see him float again	E
But not a trace rebubbled from the main	E
The wave rolled on no ripple on its face	V
Since their first plunge recalled a single trace	V
The little whirl which eddied and slight foam	C2
That whitened o'er what seemed their latest home	C2
White as a sepulchre above the pair	M
Who left no marble mournful as an heir	M
The quiet Proa wavering o'er the tide	D2
Was all that told of Torquil and his bride	D2
And but for this alone the whole might seem	E2
The vanished phantom of a seaman's dream	E2
They paused and searched in vain then pulled away	F
Even Superstition now forbade their stay	F
Some said he had not plunged into the wave	X
But vanished like a corpse light from a grave	X
Others that something supernatural	F2
Glared in his figure more than mortal tall	G2
While all agreed that in his cheek and eye	A
There was a dead hue of Eternity	B
Still as their oars receded from the crag	R
Round every weed a moment would they lag	R
Expectant of some token of their prey	F
But no he had melted from them like the spray	F
	-
V	B
And where was he the Pilgrim of the Deep	H2
Following the Nereid Had they ceased to weep	H2
For ever or received in coral caves	V
Wrung life and pity from the softening waves	V
Did they with Ocean's hidden sovereigns dwell	K
And sound with Mermen the fantastic shell	K
Did Neuha with the mermaids comb her hair	M
Flowing o'er ocean as it streamed in air	M
Or had they perished and in silence slept	I2
Beneath the gulf wherein they boldly leapt	I2
	-
VI	A
Young Neuha plunged into the deep and he	B
Followed her track beneath her native sea	B
Was as a native's of the element	J2
So smoothly bravely brilliantly she went	K2
Leaving a streak of light behind her heel	L2
Which struck and flashed like an amphibious steel	L2
Closely and scarcely less expert to trace	V
The depths where divers hold the pearl in chase	V
Torquil the nursling of the northern seas	V
Pursued her liquid steps with heart and ease	V
Deep deeper for an instant Neuha led	M2
The way then upward soared and as she spread	M2
Her arms and flung the foam from off her locks	V
Laughed and the sound was answered by the rocks	V
They had gained a central realm of earth again	E
But looked for tree and field and sky in vain	E
Around she pointed to a spacious cave	X
Whose only portal was the keyless wave	X
A hollow archway by the sun unseen	E
Save through the billows' glassy veil of green	E
In some transparent ocean holiday	F
When all the finny people are at play	F
Wiped with her hair the brine from Torquil's eyes	V
And clapped her hands with joy at his surprise	V
Led him to where the rock appeared to jut	N2
And form a something like a Triton's hut	N2
For all was darkness for a space till day	F
Through clefts above let in a sobered ray	F
As in some old cathedral's glimmering aisle	Q
The dusty monuments from light recoil	O2
Thus sadly in their refuge submarine	E
The vault drew half her shadow from the scene	E
	-
VII	X
Forth from her bosom the young savage drew	E
A pine torch strongly girded with gnatoo	F
A plantain leaf o'er all the more to keep	H2
Its latent sparkle from the sapping deep	H2
This mantle kept it dry then from a nook	R
Of the same plantain leaf a flint she took	R
A few shrunk withered twigs and from the blade	F
Of Torquil's knife struck fire and thus arrayed	F
The grot with torchlight Wide it was and high	X
And showed a self born Gothic canopy	B
The arch upreared by Nature's architect	F
The architrave some Earthquake might erect	F
The buttress from some mountain's bosom hurled	F
When the Poles crashed and water was the world	F
Or hardened from some earth absorbing fire	L
While yet the globe reeked from its funeral pyre	L
The fretted pinnacle the aisle the nave	X
Were there all scooped by Darkness from her cave	X
There with a little tinge of phantasy	V
Fantastic faces moped and mowed on high	X
And then a mitre or a shrine would fix	V
The eye upon its seeming crucifix	V
Thus Nature played with the stalactites	V
And built herself a Chapel of the Seas	V
	-
VIII	X
And Neuha took her Torquil by the hand	F
And waved along the vault her kindled brand	F
And led him into each recess and showed	F
The secret places of their new abode	F
Nor these alone for all had been prepared	F
Before to soothe the lover's lot she shared	F
The mat for rest for dress the fresh gnatoo	F
And sandal oil to fence against the dew	F
For food the cocoa nut the yarn the bread	F
Born of the fruit for board the plantain spread	F
With its broad leaf or turtle shell which bore	D
A banquet in the flesh it covered o'er	L
The gourd with water recent from the rill	B2
The ripe banana from the mellow hill	B2
A pine torch pile to keep undying light	F
And she herself as beautiful as night	F
To fling her shadowy spirit o'er the scene	E
And make their subterranean world serene	E
She had foreseen since first the stranger's sail	C
Drew to their isle that force or flight might fail	C
And formed a refuge of the rocky den	E
For Torquil's safety from his countrymen	E
Each dawn had wafted there her light canoe	F
Laden with all	G2

George Gordon Byron

The Island: Canto Iv. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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