Keenan's Charge Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCAAC DEFGGF HHIJJI KKLMNL OOPQQP RRASSA TTUVVU JJWXYW RRKK ZZA2A2 B2B2C2C2D2D2 RRE2E2RR F2F2G2G2H2H2I2I2 RRJ2J2B2 B2 B2B2B2B2 K2H2H2K2RRKKChancellorsville May | A |
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I | - |
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The sun had set | B |
The leaves with dew were wet | B |
Down fell a bloody dusk | C |
On the woods that second of May | A |
Where Stonewall's corps like a beast of prey | A |
Tore through with angry tusk | C |
- | |
They've trapped us boys | D |
Rose from our flank a voice | E |
With a rush of steel and smoke | F |
On came the rebels straight | G |
Eager as love and wild as hate | G |
And our line reeled and broke | F |
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Broke and fled | H |
No one stayed but the dead | H |
With curses shrieks and cries | I |
Horses and wagons and men | J |
Tumbled back through the shuddering glen | J |
And above us the fading skies | I |
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There's one hope still | K |
Those batteries parked on the hill | K |
Battery wheel 'mid the roar | L |
Pass pieces fix prolonge to fire | M |
Retiring Trot In the panic dire | N |
A bugle rings Trot and no more | L |
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The horses plunged | O |
The cannon lurched and lunged | O |
To join the hopeless rout | P |
But suddenly rode a form | Q |
Calmly in front of the human storm | Q |
With a stern commanding shout | P |
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Align those guns | R |
We knew it was Pleasonton's | R |
The cannoneers bent to obey | A |
And worked with a will at his word | S |
And the black guns moved as if they had heard | S |
But ah the dread delay | A |
- | |
To wait is crime | T |
O God for ten minutes' time | T |
The General looked around | U |
There Keenan sat like a stone | V |
With his three hundred horse alone | V |
Less shaken than the ground | U |
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Major your men | J |
Are soldiers General Then | J |
Charge Major Do your best | W |
Hold the enemy back at all cost | X |
Till my guns are placed else the army is lost | Y |
You die to save the rest | W |
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II | - |
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By the shrouded gleam of the western skies | R |
Brave Keenan looked into Pleasonton's eyes | R |
For an instant clear and cool and still | K |
Then with a smile he said I will | K |
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Cavalry charge Not a man of them shrank | Z |
Their sharp full cheer from rank on rank | Z |
Rose joyously with a willing breath | A2 |
Rose like a greeting hail to death | A2 |
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Then forward they sprang and spurred and clashed | B2 |
Shouted the officers crimson sash'd | B2 |
Rode well the men each brave as his fellow | C2 |
In their faded coats of the blue and yellow | C2 |
And above in the air with an instinct true | D2 |
Like a bird of war their pennon flew | D2 |
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With clank of scabbards and thunder of steeds | R |
And blades that shine like sunlit reeds | R |
And strong brown faces bravely pale | E2 |
For fear their proud attempt shall fail | E2 |
Three hundred Pennsylvanians close | R |
On twice ten thousand gallant foes | R |
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Line after line the troopers came | F2 |
To the edge of the wood that was ring'd with flame | F2 |
Rode in and sabred and shot and fell | G2 |
Nor came one back his wounds to tell | G2 |
And full in the midst rose Keenan tall | H2 |
In the gloom like a martyr awaiting his fall | H2 |
While the circle stroke of his sabre swung | I2 |
'Round his head like a halo there luminous hung | I2 |
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Line after line aye whole platoons | R |
Struck dead in their saddles of brave dragoons | R |
By the maddened horses were onward borne | J2 |
And into the vortex flung trampled and torn | J2 |
As Keenan fought with his men side by side | B2 |
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So they rode till there were no more to ride | B2 |
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But over them lying there shattered and mute | B2 |
What deep echo rolls 'T is a death salute | B2 |
From the cannon in place for heroes you braved | B2 |
Your fate not in vain the army was saved | B2 |
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Over them now year following year | K2 |
Over their graves the pine cones fall | H2 |
And the whip poor will chants his spectre call | H2 |
But they stir not again they raise no cheer | K2 |
They have ceased But their glory shall never cease | R |
Nor their light be quenched in the light of peace | R |
The rush of their charge is resounding still | K |
That saved the army at Chancellorsville | K |
George Parsons Lathrop
(1)
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