The Whip-poor-will Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBC D EFEF AGAH IEIE CJCJ KLKL MNMO PQPQ RJRJ STUT JRJR VJVJ WXWX JAJA YZYZ XJXJ XJXJ| The plaint of the wailing Whip poor will | A |
| Who mourns unseen and ceaseless sings | B |
| Ever a note of wail and wo | C |
| Till Morning spreads her rosy wings | B |
| And earth and sky in her glances glow | C |
| - | |
| J R Drake | D |
| - | |
| - | |
| Why dost thou come at set of sun | E |
| Those pensive words to say | F |
| Why whip poor Will What has he done | E |
| And who is Will I pray | F |
| - | |
| Why come from yon leaf shaded hill | A |
| A suppliant at my door | G |
| Why ask of me to whip poor Will | A |
| And is Will really poor | H |
| - | |
| If poverty's his crime let mirth | I |
| From his heart be driven | E |
| That is the deadliest sin on earth | I |
| And never is forgiven | E |
| - | |
| Art Will himself It must be so | C |
| I learn it from thy moan | J |
| For none can feel another's wo | C |
| As deeply as his own | J |
| - | |
| Yet wherefore strain thy tiny throat | K |
| While other birds repose | L |
| What means thy melancholy note | K |
| The mystery disclose | L |
| - | |
| Still Whip poor Will Art thou a sprite | M |
| From unknown regions sent | N |
| To wander in the gloom of night | M |
| And ask for punishment | O |
| - | |
| Is thine a conscience sore beset | P |
| With guilt or what is worse | Q |
| Hast thou to meet writs duns and debt | P |
| No money in thy purse | Q |
| - | |
| If this be thy hard fate indeed | R |
| Ah well may'st thou repine | J |
| The sympathy I give I need | R |
| The poet's doom is thine | J |
| - | |
| Art thou a lover Will Has proved | S |
| The fairest can deceive | T |
| This is the lot of all who've loved | U |
| Since Adam wedded Eve | T |
| - | |
| Hast trusted in a friend and seen | J |
| No friend was he in need | R |
| A common error men still lean | J |
| Upon as frail a reed | R |
| - | |
| Hast thou in seeking wealth or fame | V |
| A crown of brambles won | J |
| O'er all the earth 'tis just the same | V |
| With every mother's son | J |
| - | |
| Hast found the world a Babel wide | W |
| Where man to Mammon stoops | X |
| Where flourish Arrogance and Pride | W |
| While modest Merit droops | X |
| - | |
| What none of these Then whence thy pain | J |
| To guess it who's the skill | A |
| Pray have the kindness to explain | J |
| Why should I whip poor Will | A |
| - | |
| Dost merely ask thy just desert | Y |
| What not another word | Z |
| Back to the woods again unhurt | Y |
| I will not harm thee bird | Z |
| - | |
| But use thee kindly for my nerves | X |
| Like thine have penance done | J |
| Use every man as he deserves | X |
| Who shall 'scape whipping None | J |
| - | |
| Farewell poor Will Not valueless | X |
| This lesson by thee given | J |
| Keep thine own counsel and confess | X |
| Thyself alone to Heaven | J |
George Pope Morris
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Whip-poor-will poem by George Pope Morris
Best Poems of George Pope Morris