Solon Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A ABABCCDEDDE A FGFGHIJKJJK A KLKLMMKNKKN B KKKKKKOMOOM B PKPKKKQKQQK

IA
-
The Tyrant passed and friendlier was his eyeA
On the great man of Athens whom for foeB
He knew than on the sycophantic fryA
That broke as waters round a galley's flowB
Bubbles at prow and foam along the wakeC
Solidity the Thunderer could not shakeC
Beneath an adverse wind still stripping bareD
His kinsman of the light in cavern lookE
From thought drew and a countenance could wearD
Not less at peace than fields in Attic airD
Shorn and shown fruitful by the reaper's hookE
-
IIA
-
Most enviable so yet much insaneF
To deem of minds of men they grow these sheepG
By fits wild horses need the crook and reinF
Hot bulls by fits pure wisdom hold they cheapG
My Lawgiver when fiery is the moodH
For ones and twos and threes thy words are goodI
For thine own government are pillars mineJ
Stand acts to fit the herd which has quick thirstK
Rejecting elegiacs though they shineJ
On polished brass and worthy of the NineJ
In showering columns from their fountain burstK
-
IIIA
-
Thus museful rode the Tyrant princely plumedK
To his high seat upon the sacred rockL
And Solon blank beside his rule resumedK
The meditation which that passing mockL
Had buffeted awhile to sallownessM
He little loved the man his office lessM
Yet owned him for a flower of his kindK
Therefore the heavier curse on Athens heN
The people grew not in themselves but blindK
Accepted sight from him to him resignedK
Their hopes of stature rootless as at seaN
-
IVB
-
As under sea lay Solon's work or seemedK
By turbid shore waves beaten day by dayK
Defaced half formless like an image dreamedK
Or child that fashioned in another clayK
Appears by strangers' hands to home returnedK
But shall the Present tyrannize us earnedK
It was in some way justly says the sageO
One sees not how while husbanding regretsM
While tossing scorn abroad from righteous rageO
High vision is obscured for this is ageO
When robbed more infant than the babe it fretsM
-
VB
-
Yet see Athenians treading the black pathP
Laid by a prince's shadow well contentK
To wait his pleasure shivering at his wrathP
They bow to their accepted OrientK
With offer of the all that renders brightK
Forgetful of the growth of men to lightK
As creatures reared on Persian milk they bowQ
Unripe unripe The times are overcastK
But still may they who sowed behind the ploughQ
True seed fix in the mind an unborn NOWQ
To make the plagues afflicting us things pastK

George Meredith



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