King Cole Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AA BB CC DD ED FF AA AA AA GG AA HH II BB JK LL AA DD DD AA MM NN AA AA GG AA OO DD PP QQ PP RS PP PPKing Cole he reigned in Aureoland | A |
But the sceptre was seldom in his hand | A |
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Far oftener was there his golden cup | B |
He ate too much but he drank all up | B |
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To be called a king and to be a king | C |
That is one thing and another thing | C |
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So his majesty's head began to shake | D |
And his hands and his feet to swell and ache | D |
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The doctors were called but they dared not say | E |
Your majesty drinks too much Tokay | D |
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So out of the king's heart died all mirth | F |
And he thought there was nothing good on earth | F |
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Then up rose the fool whose every word | A |
Was three parts wise and one part absurd | A |
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Nuncle he said never mind the gout | A |
I will make you laugh till you laugh it out | A |
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King Cole pushed away his full gold plate | A |
The jester he opened the palace gate | A |
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Brought in a cold man with hunger grim | G |
And on the dais edge seated him | G |
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Then caught up the king's own golden plate | A |
And set it beside him oh how he ate | A |
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And the king took note with a pleased surprise | H |
That he ate with his mouth and his cheeks and his eyes | H |
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With his arms and his legs and his body whole | I |
And laughed aloud from his heart and soul | I |
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Then from his lordly chair got up | B |
And carried the man his own gold cup | B |
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The goblet was deep and wide and full | J |
The poor man drank like a cow at a pool | K |
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Said the king to the jester I call it well done | L |
To drink with two mouths instead of one | L |
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Said the king to himself as he took his seat | A |
It is quite as good to feed as to eat | A |
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It is better I do begin to think | D |
To give to the thirsty than to drink | D |
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And now I have thought of it said the king | D |
There might be more of this kind of thing | D |
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The fool heard The king had not long to wait | A |
The fool cried aloud at the palace gate | A |
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The ragged and wretched the hungry and thin | M |
Loose in their clothes and tight in their skin | M |
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Gathered in shoals till they filled the hall | N |
And the king and the fool they fed them all | N |
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And as with good things their plates they piled | A |
The king grew merry as a little child | A |
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On the morrow early he went abroad | A |
And sought poor folk in their own abode | A |
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Sought them till evening foggy and dim | G |
Did not wait till they came to him | G |
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And every day after did what he could | A |
Gave them work and gave them food | A |
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Thus he made war on the wintry weather | O |
And his health and the spring came back together | O |
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But lo a change had passed on the king | D |
Like the change of the world in that same spring | D |
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His face had grown noble and good to see | P |
And the crown sat well on his majesty | P |
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Now he ate enough and ate no more | Q |
He drank about half what he drank before | Q |
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He reigned a real king in Aureoland | P |
Reigned with his head and his heart and his hand | P |
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All this through the fool did come to pass | R |
And every Christmas eve that was | S |
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The palace gates stood open wide | P |
And the poor came in from every side | P |
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And the king rose up and served them duly | P |
And his people loved him very truly | P |
George Macdonald
(1)
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