Love's Ordeal Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCBCBCDE FEFEFEGG HICIHIJJ KLKMKLNN JOJOJOPP QRSRQRTT CUCUCUVV CCCCCCWW XYXYXYZZ HA2HA2HA2PP B2VB2VB2VC2C2 HD2HD2HD2E2E2 F2UG2UF2UVV TH2TH2TH2I2I2 PJ2PJ2PJ2K2K2 GD2GD2GD2BB OCOCOCCC ULUUUUOO OUOUOUUU UL2UL2UL2UU CCCCCCM2M2 OBOBOBN2O2 O2 P2UP2U OBOB OOOO U UUUUUUUU Q2UQ2UQ2UCC R2UR2UR2UR2R2 UUUUUUR2R2 US2US2UT2UU OUOUOUK2K2 UOUOUOUU UUUUUUBB BUBUBUCC OBOBOBUU U2K2U2K2U2K2UU V2R2V2R2V2R2UU W2X2W2X2W2X2CC UUUUUUBBA recollection and attempted completion of a prose fragment read in boyhood | A |
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Hear'st thou that sound upon the window pane | B |
Said the youth softly as outstretched he lay | C |
Where for an hour outstretched he had lain | B |
Softly yet with some token of dismay | C |
Answered the maiden It is but the rain | B |
That has been gathering in the west all day | C |
Why shouldst thou hearken so Thine eyelids close | D |
And let me gather peace from thy repose | E |
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Hear'st thou that moan creeping along the ground | F |
Said the youth and his veiling eyelids rose | E |
From deeps of lightning haunted dark profound | F |
Ruffled with herald blasts of coming woes | E |
I hear it said the maiden 'tis the sound | F |
Of a great wind that here not seldom blows | E |
It swings the huge arms of the dreary pine | G |
But thou art safe my darling clasped in mine | G |
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Hear'st thou the baying of my hounds said he | H |
Draw back the lattice bar and let them in | I |
From a rent cloud the moonlight ghostily | C |
Slid clearer to the floor as gauntly thin | I |
She opening they leaped through with bound so free | H |
Then shook the rain drops from their shaggy skin | I |
The maiden closed the shower bespattered glass | J |
Whose spotted shadow through the room did pass | J |
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The youth half raised was leaning on his hand | K |
But when again beside him sat the maid | L |
His eyes for one slow minute having scanned | K |
Her moonlit face he laid him down and said | M |
Monotonous like solemn read command | K |
For Love is of the earth earthy and is laid | L |
Lifeless at length back in the mother tomb | N |
Strange moanings from the pine entered the room | N |
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And then two shadows like the shadow of glass | J |
Over the moonbeams on the cottage floor | O |
As wind almost as thin and shapeless pass | J |
A sound of rain drops came about the door | O |
And a soft sighing as of plumy grass | J |
A look of sorrowing doubt the youth's face wore | O |
The two great hounds half rose with aspect grim | P |
They eyed his countenance by the taper dim | P |
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Shadow nor moaning sound the maiden noted | Q |
But on his face dwelt her reproachful look | R |
She doubted whether he the saying had quoted | S |
Out of some evil earth begotten book | R |
Or up from his deep heart like bubbles had floated | Q |
Words which no maiden ever yet could brook | R |
But his eyes held the question Yea or No | T |
Therefore the maiden answered Nay not so | T |
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Love is of heaven eternal Half a smile | C |
Just twinned his lips shy like all human best | U |
A hopeful thought bloomed out and lived a while | C |
He looked one moment like a dead man blest | U |
His soul a bark that in a sunny isle | C |
At length had found the haven of its rest | U |
But he could not remain must forward fare | V |
He spoke and said with words abrupt and bare | V |
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Maiden I have loved other maidens Pale | C |
Her red lips grew I loved them yes but they | C |
Successively in trial's hour did fail | C |
For after sunset clouds again are gray | C |
A sudden light shone through the fringy veil | C |
That drooping hid her eyes and then there lay | C |
A stillness on her face waiting and then | W |
The little clock rung out the hour of ten | W |
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Moaning once more the great pine branches bow | X |
To a soft plaining wind they would not stem | Y |
Brooding upon her face the youth said Thou | X |
Art not more beautiful than some of them | Y |
But a fair courage crowns thy peaceful brow | X |
Nor glow thine eyes but shine serene like gem | Y |
That lamps from radiant store upon the dark | Z |
The light it gathered where its song the lark | Z |
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The horse that broke this day from grasp of three | H |
Thou sawest then the hand thou holdest hold | A2 |
Ere two fleet hours are gone that hand will be | H |
Dry big veined wrinkled withered up and old | A2 |
No woman yet hath shared my doom with me | H |
With calm fixed eyes she heard till he had told | A2 |
The stag hounds rose a moment gazed at him | P |
Then laid them down with aspect yet more grim | P |
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Spake on the youth nor altered look or tone | B2 |
'Tis thy turn maiden to say no or dare | V |
Was it the maiden's that importunate moan | B2 |
At midnight when the moon sets wilt thou share | V |
The terror with me or must I go alone | B2 |
To meet an agony that will not spare | V |
She answered not but rose to take her cloak | C2 |
He staid her with his hand and further spoke | C2 |
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Not yet he said yet there is respite see | H |
Time's finger points not yet to the dead hour | D2 |
Enough is left even now for telling thee | H |
The far beginnings whence the fearful power | D2 |
Of the great dark came shadowing down on me | H |
Red roses crowding clothe my love's dear bower | D2 |
Nightshade and hemlock darnel toadstools white | E2 |
Compass the place where I must lie to night | E2 |
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Around his neck the maiden put her arm | F2 |
And knelt beside him leaning on his breast | U |
As o'er his love to keep it strong and warm | G2 |
Brooding like bird outspread upon her nest | U |
And well the faith of her dear eyes might charm | F2 |
All doubt away from love's primeval rest | U |
He hid his face upon her heart and there | V |
Spake on with voice like wind from lonely lair | V |
- | |
A drearier moaning through the pine did go | T |
As if a human voice complained and cried | H2 |
For one long minute then the sound grew low | T |
Sank to a sigh and sighing sank and died | H2 |
Together at the silence two voices mow | T |
His and the clock's which loud grown did divide | H2 |
The hours into live moments sparks of time | I2 |
Scorching the soul that trembles for the chime | I2 |
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He spoke of sins ancestral born in him | P |
Impulses of resistance fierce and wild | J2 |
Of failure weak and strength reviving dim | P |
Self hatred dreariness no love beguiled | J2 |
Of storm and blasting light and darkness grim | P |
Of torrent paths and tombs with mountains piled | J2 |
Of gulfs in the unsunned bosom of the earth | K2 |
Of dying ever into dawning birth | K2 |
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But when I find a heart whose blood is wine | G |
Whose faith lights up the cold brain's passionless hour | D2 |
Whose love like unborn rose bud will not pine | G |
But waits the sun and the baptizing shower | D2 |
Till then lies hid and gathers odours fine | G |
To greet the human summer when its flower | D2 |
Shall blossom in the heart and soul and brain | B |
And love and passion be one holy twain | B |
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Then shall I rest rest like the seven of yore | O |
Slumber divine will steep my outworn soul | C |
And every stain dissolve to the very core | O |
She too will slumber having found her goal | C |
Time's ocean o'er us will in silence frore | O |
Aeonian tides of change filled seasons roll | C |
And our long dark appointed period fill | C |
Then shall we wake together loving still | C |
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Her face on his her mouth to his mouth pressed | U |
Was all the answer of the trusting maid | L |
Close in his arms he held her to his breast | U |
For one brief moment would have yet assayed | U |
Some deeper word her heart to strengthen lest | U |
It should though faithful be too much afraid | U |
But the clock gave the warning to the hour | O |
And on the thatch fell sounds not of a shower | O |
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One long kiss and the maiden rose A fear | O |
Lay thin as a glassy shadow on her heart | U |
She trembled as some unknown thing were near | O |
But smiled next moment for they should not part | U |
The youth arose With solemn joyous cheer | O |
He helped the maid whose trembling hands did thwart | U |
Her haste to wrap her in her mantle's fold | U |
Then out they passed into the midnight cold | U |
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The moon was sinking in the dim green west | U |
Curled upward half way to the horizon's brink | L2 |
A leaf of glory falling to its rest | U |
The maiden's hand still trembling sought to link | L2 |
Her arm to his with love's instinctive quest | U |
But his enfolded her hers did not sink | L2 |
But thus set free it stole his body round | U |
And so they walked in freedom's fetters bound | U |
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Pressed to his side she felt like full toned bell | C |
A mighty heart heave large in measured play | C |
But as the floating moon aye lower fell | C |
Its bounding force did by slow loss decay | C |
It throbbed now like a bird now like far knell | C |
Pulsed low and faint And now with sick dismay | C |
She felt the arm relax that round her clung | M2 |
And from her circling arm he forward hung | M2 |
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His footsteps feeble short his paces grow | O |
Her strength and courage mount and swell amain | B |
He lifted up his head the moon lay low | O |
Nigh the world's edge His lips with some keen pain | B |
Quivered but with a smile his eyes turned slow | O |
Seeking in hers the balsam for his bane | B |
And finding it love over death supreme | N2 |
Like two sad souls they walked met in one dream A | O2 |
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Note A | O2 |
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In a lovely garden walking | P2 |
Two lovers went hand in hand | U |
Two wan worn figures talking | P2 |
They sat in the flowery land | U |
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On the cheek they kissed one another | O |
On the mouth with sweet refrain | B |
Fast held they each the other | O |
And were young and well again | B |
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Two little bells rang shrilly | O |
The dream went with the hour | O |
She lay in the cloister stilly | O |
He far in the dungeon tower | O |
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From Uhland | U |
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Hanging his head behind each came a hound | U |
Padding with gentle paws upon the road | U |
Straight silent pines rose here and there around | U |
A dull stream on the left side hardly flowed | U |
A black snake through the sluggish waters wound | U |
Hark the night raven see the crawling toad | U |
She thinks how dark will be the moonless night | U |
How feeblest ray is yet supernal light | U |
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The moon's last gleam fell on dim glazed eyes | Q2 |
A body shrunken from its garments' fold | U |
An aged man whose bent knees could not rise | Q2 |
He tottered in the maiden's tightening hold | U |
She shivered but too slight was the disguise | Q2 |
To hide from love what never yet was old | U |
She held him fast with open eyes did pray | C |
Walked through the fear and kept the onward way | C |
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Toward a gloomy thicket of tall firs | R2 |
Dragging his inch long steps he turned aside | U |
There Silence sleeps not one green needle stirs | R2 |
They enter it A breeze begins to chide | U |
Among the cones It swells until it whirs | R2 |
Vibrating so each sharp leaf that it sighed | U |
The grove became a harp of mighty chords | R2 |
Wing smote by unseen creatures wild for words | R2 |
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But when he turned again toward the cleft | U |
Of a great rock as instantly it ceased | U |
And the tall pines stood sudden as if reft | U |
Of a strong passion or from pain released | U |
Again they wove their straight dark motionless weft | U |
Across the moonset bars and west and east | U |
Cloud giants rose and marched up cloudy stairs | R2 |
And like sad thoughts the bats came unawares | R2 |
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'Twas a drear chamber for thy bridal night | U |
O poor pale saviour bride An earthen lamp | S2 |
With shaking hands he kindled whose faint light | U |
Mooned out a tiny halo on the damp | S2 |
That filled the cavern to its unseen height | U |
Dim glimmering like death candle in a swamp | T2 |
Watching the entrance each side lies a hound | U |
With liquid light his red eyes gleaming round | U |
- | |
A heap rose grave like from the rocky floor | O |
Of moss and leaves by many a sunny wind | U |
Long tossed and dried with rich furs covered o'er | O |
Expectant Up a jealous glory shined | U |
In her possessing heart he should find more | O |
In her than in those faithless With sweet mind | U |
She praying gently did herself unclothe | K2 |
And lay down by him trusting and not loath | K2 |
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Once more a wind came flapping overhead | U |
The hounds pricked up their ears their eyes flashed fire | O |
The trembling maiden heard a sudden tread | U |
Dull yet plain dinted on the windy gyre | O |
As if long wet feet o'er smooth pavement sped | U |
Come fiercely up as driven by longing dire | O |
To enter followed sounds of hurried rout | U |
With bristling hair the hounds stood looking out | U |
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Then came half querulous a whisper old | U |
Feeble and hollow as if shut in a chest | U |
Take my face on your bosom I am cold | U |
She bared her holy bosom's truth white nest | U |
And forth her two hands instant went love bold | U |
And took the face and close against her pressed | U |
Ah the dead chill Was that the feet again | B |
But her great heart kept beating for the twain | B |
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She heard the wind fall heard the following rain | B |
Swelling the silent waters till their sound | U |
Went wallowing through the night along the plain | B |
The lamp went out by the slow darkness drowned | U |
Must the fair dawn a thousand years refrain | B |
Like centuries the feeble hours went round | U |
Eternal night entombed her with decay | C |
To her live soul she clasped the breathless clay | C |
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The world stood still Her life sank down so low | O |
That but for wretchedness no life she knew | B |
A charnel wind moaned out a moaning No | O |
From the devouring heart of earth it blew | B |
Fair memories lost all their sunny glow | O |
Out of the dark the forms of old friends grew | B |
But so transparent blanched with dole and smart | U |
She saw the pale worm lying in each heart | U |
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And worst of all Oh death of keep fled life | U2 |
A voice within her woke and cried In sooth | K2 |
Vain is all sorrow hope and care and strife | U2 |
Love and its beauty its tenderness and truth | K2 |
Are shadows bred in hearts too fancy rife | U2 |
Which melt and pass with sure decaying youth | K2 |
Regard them and they quiver waver blot | U |
Gaze at them fixedly and they are not | U |
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And all the answer the poor child could make | V2 |
Was in the tightened clasp of arms and hands | R2 |
Hopeless she lay like one Death would not take | V2 |
But still kept driving from his empty lands | R2 |
Yet hopeless held she out for his dear sake | V2 |
The darksome horror grew like drifting sands | R2 |
Till nought was precious neither God nor light | U |
And yet she braved the false denying night | U |
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So dead was hope that when a glimmer weak | W2 |
Stole through a fissure somewhere in the cave | X2 |
Thinning the clotted darkness on his cheek | W2 |
She thought her own tired eyes the glimmer gave | X2 |
He moved his head she saw his eyes love meek | W2 |
And knew that Death was dead and filled the Grave | X2 |
Old age convicted lie had fled away | C |
Youth Youth eternal in her bosom lay | C |
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With a low cry closer to him she crept | U |
And on his bosom hid a face that glowed | U |
It was his turn to comfort he had slept | U |
Oh earth and sky oh ever patient God | U |
She had not yielded but the truth had kept | U |
New love new bliss in weeping overflowed | U |
I can no farther tell the tale begun | B |
They are asleep and waiting for the sun | B |
George Macdonald
(1)
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