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 K2H2H2K2RRKK

Chancellorsville MayA
-
-
I-
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The sun had setB
The leaves with dew were wetB
Down fell a bloody duskC
On the woods that second of MayA
Where Stonewall's corps like a beast of preyA
Tore through with angry tuskC
-
They've trapped us boysD
Rose from our flank a voiceE
With a rush of steel and smokeF
On came the rebels straightG
Eager as love and wild as hateG
And our line reeled and brokeF
-
Broke and fledH
No one stayed but the deadH
With curses shrieks and criesI
Horses and wagons and menJ
Tumbled back through the shuddering glenJ
And above us the fading skiesI
-
There's one hope stillK
Those batteries parked on the hillK
Battery wheel 'mid the roarL
Pass pieces fix prolonge to fireM
Retiring Trot In the panic direN
A bugle rings Trot and no moreL
-
The horses plungedO
The cannon lurched and lungedO
To join the hopeless routP
But suddenly rode a formQ
Calmly in front of the human stormQ
With a stern commanding shoutP
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Align those gunsR
We knew it was Pleasonton'sR
The cannoneers bent to obeyA
And worked with a will at his wordS
And the black guns moved as if they had heardS
But ah the dread delayA
-
To wait is crimeT
O God for ten minutes' timeT
The General looked aroundU
There Keenan sat like a stoneV
With his three hundred horse aloneV
Less shaken than the groundU
-
Major your menJ
Are soldiers General ThenJ
Charge Major Do your bestW
Hold the enemy back at all costX
Till my guns are placed else the army is lostY
You die to save the restW
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II-
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By the shrouded gleam of the western skiesR
Brave Keenan looked into Pleasonton's eyesR
For an instant clear and cool and stillK
Then with a smile he said I willK
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Cavalry charge Not a man of them shrankZ
Their sharp full cheer from rank on rankZ
Rose joyously with a willing breathA2
Rose like a greeting hail to deathA2
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Then forward they sprang and spurred and clashedB2
Shouted the officers crimson sash'dB2
Rode well the men each brave as his fellowC2
In their faded coats of the blue and yellowC2
And above in the air with an instinct trueD2
Like a bird of war their pennon flewD2
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With clank of scabbards and thunder of steedsR
And blades that shine like sunlit reedsR
And strong brown faces bravely paleE2
For fear their proud attempt shall failE2
Three hundred Pennsylvanians closeR
On twice ten thousand gallant foesR
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Line after line the troopers cameF2
To the edge of the wood that was ring'd with flameF2
Rode in and sabred and shot and fellG2
Nor came one back his wounds to tellG2
And full in the midst rose Keenan tallH2
In the gloom like a martyr awaiting his fallH2
While the circle stroke of his sabre swungI2
'Round his head like a halo there luminous hungI2
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Line after line aye whole platoonsR
Struck dead in their saddles of brave dragoonsR
By the maddened horses were onward borneJ2
And into the vortex flung trampled and tornJ2
As Keenan fought with his men side by sideB2
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So they rode till there were no more to rideB2
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But over them lying there shattered and muteB2
What deep echo rolls 'T is a death saluteB2
From the cannon in place for heroes you bravedB2
Your fate not in vain the army was savedB2
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Over them now year following yearK2
Over their graves the pine cones fallH2
And the whip poor will chants his spectre callH2
But they stir not again they raise no cheerK2
They have ceased But their glory shall never ceaseR
Nor their light be quenched in the light of peaceR
The rush of their charge is resounding stillK
That saved the army at ChancellorsvilleK

George Parsons Lathrop



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