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 PP

King Cole he reigned in AureolandA
But the sceptre was seldom in his handA
-
Far oftener was there his golden cupB
He ate too much but he drank all upB
-
To be called a king and to be a kingC
That is one thing and another thingC
-
So his majesty's head began to shakeD
And his hands and his feet to swell and acheD
-
The doctors were called but they dared not sayE
Your majesty drinks too much TokayD
-
So out of the king's heart died all mirthF
And he thought there was nothing good on earthF
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Then up rose the fool whose every wordA
Was three parts wise and one part absurdA
-
Nuncle he said never mind the goutA
I will make you laugh till you laugh it outA
-
King Cole pushed away his full gold plateA
The jester he opened the palace gateA
-
Brought in a cold man with hunger grimG
And on the dais edge seated himG
-
Then caught up the king's own golden plateA
And set it beside him oh how he ateA
-
And the king took note with a pleased surpriseH
That he ate with his mouth and his cheeks and his eyesH
-
With his arms and his legs and his body wholeI
And laughed aloud from his heart and soulI
-
Then from his lordly chair got upB
And carried the man his own gold cupB
-
The goblet was deep and wide and fullJ
The poor man drank like a cow at a poolK
-
Said the king to the jester I call it well doneL
To drink with two mouths instead of oneL
-
Said the king to himself as he took his seatA
It is quite as good to feed as to eatA
-
It is better I do begin to thinkD
To give to the thirsty than to drinkD
-
And now I have thought of it said the kingD
There might be more of this kind of thingD
-
The fool heard The king had not long to waitA
The fool cried aloud at the palace gateA
-
The ragged and wretched the hungry and thinM
Loose in their clothes and tight in their skinM
-
Gathered in shoals till they filled the hallN
And the king and the fool they fed them allN
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And as with good things their plates they piledA
The king grew merry as a little childA
-
On the morrow early he went abroadA
And sought poor folk in their own abodeA
-
Sought them till evening foggy and dimG
Did not wait till they came to himG
-
And every day after did what he couldA
Gave them work and gave them foodA
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Thus he made war on the wintry weatherO
And his health and the spring came back togetherO
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But lo a change had passed on the kingD
Like the change of the world in that same springD
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His face had grown noble and good to seeP
And the crown sat well on his majestyP
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Now he ate enough and ate no moreQ
He drank about half what he drank beforeQ
-
He reigned a real king in AureolandP
Reigned with his head and his heart and his handP
-
All this through the fool did come to passR
And every Christmas eve that wasS
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The palace gates stood open wideP
And the poor came in from every sideP
-
And the king rose up and served them dulyP
And his people loved him very trulyP

George Macdonald



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