Men Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEDFGFFHIJFFFKLLM NKOPQRFFSSTUSVWFFFFF XFS YSSZA2FFSYFB2SC2A2D2 E2F2TSG2SUFFYFFH2FI2 SFFD2FJ2FK2YKSC2YFK2 YSL2RSFKMSFC2M2F N2SSN2FYO2SY N2SZP2UFSSQ2K2NR2R2S FQ2SS2FFYST2FSTFSU2F SSYKFSSFA2SSFV2M2W2F FFFYFSFFSFFSSSFFFX2S S Y2SFYFW2X2Z2SFFYFC2Y YM2SA3W2FFN2SSSSFFSF FB2SB3SFSYFS FFC3SSSYFG2FFFD3YFSS YFSFFW2W2W2SUE3FSSSF SF3 YFFFFSFX2SFSFSG3FFFF FSFFYSFFSSFS H3FX2FX2X2FSFSMSX2FF FI3MFUH2M2FFMJ3FH2FD 3FF SX2R2X2SR2H2FSFYFM2F SYSM2 H2R2FFFM2M2FK3SX2V2Y SR2FMN2L3FSFFFH2SF YH2FFSF YFFFFFFFN2FSFSFFSFFF FSM3FN2 FA2SFFX2A2FSJ3SC2SN3 SFFSFFFF FSSH2SSYFFA2FFFFFFX2 SYC2 SFFSFSO3FA3S X2FFF3FSFSMUYSSSSYSS SYFO3FA2SSFX2FFFFSYS SFSSFFSSA2FSFE2M2SH2 FSFA3ZX2S SFFFYFFYV2A2FFFFFSE3 YSFYQ2Y N2SX2F SFX2S

Man is a creature of a thousand whimsA
The slave of hope and fear and circumstanceB
Through toil and martyrdom a million yearsC
Struggling and groping upward from the bruteD
And ever dragging still the brutish chainsE
And ever slipping backward to the bruteD
Shall he not break the galling brazen bondsF
That bind him writhing on the wheel of fateG
Long ages groveling with his brother brutesF
He plucked the tree of knowledge and uproseF
And walked erect a god but died the deathH
For knowledge brings but sadness and unrestI
Forever insatiate longing and regretJ
Behold the brute's unerring instinct guidesF
True as the pole star while man's reason leadsF
How oft to quicksands and the hidden reefsF
Contented brute his daily wants how fewK
And these by Nature's mother hand suppliedL
Man's wants unnumbered and unsatisfiedL
And multiplied at every onward stepM
Insatiate as the cavernous maw of timeN
His real wants how simple and how fewK
Behold the kine in yonder pasture fieldO
Cropping the clover or in rest reclinedP
Chewing meek eyed the cud of sweet contentQ
Ambition plagues them not nor hope nor fearR
No demons fright them and no cruel creedsF
No pangs of disappointment or remorseF
See man the picture of perpetual wantS
The prototype of all disquietudeS
Full of trouble yet ever seeking moreT
Between the upper and the nether stoneU
Ground and forever in the mill of fateS
Nature and art combine to clothe his formV
To feed his fancy and to fill his mawW
And yet the more they give the more he cravesF
Give him the gold of Ophir still he delvesF
Give him the land and he demands the seaF
Give him the earth he reaches for the starsF
Doomed by his fate to scorn the good he hasF
And grasp at fancied good beyond his reachX
He seeks for silver in the distant hillsF
While in the sand gold glitters at his feetS
-
O man thy wisdom is but folly stillY
Wiser the brute and full of sweet contentS
The wit and wisdom of five thousand years WhatS
are they but the husks we feed uponZ
While beast and bird devour the golden grainA2
Lo for the brutes dame Nature sows and tillsF
For them the Tuba tree of ParadiseF
Bends with its bounties free and manifoldS
For them the fabled fountain SalsabilY
Gushes pure wine that sparkles as it runsF
And fair Al Cawthar flows with creamy milkB2
But man forever doomed to toil and sweatS
Digs the hard earth and casts his seeds thereinC2
And hopes the harvest how oft he hopes in vainA2
Weeds choke winds blast and myriad pests devourD2
The hot sun withers and the floods destroyE2
Unceasing labor vigilance and careF2
Reward him here and there with bounteous storeT
Had man the blessed wisdom of contentS
Happy were he as wise Horatius sungG2
To whom God gives enough with sparing handS
Of all the crops by sighing mortals sownU
And watered with man's sweat and woman's tearsF
There is but only one that never failsF
In drouth or flood on fat or flinty soilY
On Nilus' banks or Scandia's stony hillsF
The plenteous never stinted crop of foolsF
So hath it been since erst aspiring manH2
Broke from the brute and plucked the fatal treeF
And will be till eternity grows grayI2
-
Princes and parasites comprise mankindS
To one wise prince a million parasitesF
The most uncommon thing is common senseF
A truly wise man is a freak of natureD2
The herd are parasites of parasitesF
That blindly follow priest or demagogueJ2
Himself blind leader of the blind The wiseF
Weigh words but by the yard fools measure themK2
The wise beginneth at the end the foolY
Ends at the beginning or begins anewK
Aye every ditch is full of after witS
Folly sows broad cast Wisdom gathers inC2
And so the wise man fattens on the foolY
And from the follies of the foolish learnsF
Wisdom to guide himself and bridle themK2
To morrow I made my fortune cries the foolY
To day I'll spend it Thus will Folly eatS
His chicken ere the hen hath laid the eggL2
So Folly blossoms with promises all the yearR
Promises that bud and blossom but to blastS
All men are fools said Socrates the wiseF
And in the broader sense I grant it trueK
For even Socrates had his Xanthipp'M
Whose head is wise oft hath a foolish heartS
The wisest has more follies than he needsF
Wisdom and madness too are near akinC2
The marrow maddening canker worm of loveM2
Feeds on the brains of wise men as on fools'F
-
The wise man gathers wisdom from all menN2
As bees their honey hive from plant and weedS
Yea from the varied history of the worldS
From the experience of all times all menN2
The wise man learneth wisdom Folly learnsF
From his own bruises if he learns at allY
The fool born wise what need hath he to learnO2
He needs but gabble wisdom to the worldS
Grill him on a gridiron and he gabbles stillY
-
Wise men there are wise in the eyes of menN2
Who cram their hollow heads with ancient witS
Cackled in Carthage babbled in BabylonZ
Gabbled in Greece and riddled in old RomeP2
And never coin a farthing of their ownU
Wise men there are for owls are counted wiseF
Who love to leave the lamp lit paths behindS
And chase the shapeless shadow of a doubtS
Too wise to learn too wise to see the truthQ2
E'en though it glow and sparkle like a gemK2
On God's outstretched forefinger for all timeN
These have one argument and only oneR2
For good or evil earth or jeweled heavenR2
The olden owlish argument of doubtS
Ah he alone is wise who ever standsF
Armed cap a pie with God's eternal truthQ2
Where Grex is Rex God help the hapless landS
The yelping curs that bay the rising moonS2
Are not more clamorous and the fitful windsF
Not more inconstant List the croaking frogsF
That raise their heads in fen or stagnant poolY
Shouting at eve their wisdom from the mudS
Beside the braying bleating bellowing mobT2
Their jarring discords are sweet harmonyF
The headless herd are but a noise of windS
Sometimes alas the wild tornado's roarT
As full of freaks as curs are full of fleasF
Like gnats they swarm like flies they buzz and breedS
Thought works in silence Wisdom stops to thinkU2
No ass so obstinate as ignoranceF
Oft as they seize the ship of state beholdS
Overboard goes all ballast and they crowdS
To blast or breeze or hurricane full sailY
Each dunce a pilot and a captain tooK
How often cross eyed Justice hits amissF
Doomed by Athenian mobs to banishmentS
See Aristides leave the land he savedS
Wisdom his fault and justice his offenseF
See Caesar crowned a god and Tully slainA2
See Paris red with riot and noble bloodS
A king beheaded and a monster thronedS
King Drone flat fool that weather cocked all windsF
Gulped gall and vinegar and smacked it wineV2
Wig wagged his way from gilded Oeil de BoeufM2
Through mob and maelstrom to the guillotineW2
Chateaus up blazing torch the doom of FranceF
While human wolves howl ruin round their wallsF
Contention hisses from a million mouthsF
And from ten thousand muttering craters smokesF
The smell of sulphur Gaul becomes a ghoulY
While Parlez Tous in hot palaver holdsF
Hubbub ad Bedlam Pandemonium thricedS
There voices drowning voice with frantic criesF
Discord demented flaps her ruffled wingsF
And shrieks delirium to her screeching broodS
Sneer lipped hawk eyed wolf tongued oracularsF
Wise wigs Girondins frothing JacobinsF
Reason to madness run tongues venom tangedS
Howl chaos all with one united throatS
Maelstrom of madness lazar howled hag shrilledS
Quack quackles quack all doctors disagreeF
While Doctor Guillotine's huge scalpel headsF
Hell dogs beheading helpless innocentsF
The very babes bark rabies JournalismX2
Moon mad green eyed hound scented lupus tonguedS
On howls the pack and smells her bread in bloodS
-
O Tempus ferax insanorum HeuY2
Physicked with metaphysics pamphleteeredS
Into paroxysms bruited into brutesF
And metamorphosed into murder loY
Men lapse to savagery and turn to beastsF
Hell broth hag boiled a mad Theroigne is queenW2
Mounts to the brazen throne of HarlotdomX2
Queen of the cursed and flares her cannon torchZ2
Watch wolves lean jawed fore smelling feast of bloodS
In packs on Paris howl from farthest FranceF
Discord demented bursts the bounds of DisF
Mad Murder raves and Horror holds her hellY
Hades up heaves her whelps In human formsF
Up flare the Furies serpent haired and grinC2
Horrid with bloody jaws Scaled reptiles crawlY
From slum and sewer slimy coil on coilY
Danton dark beast that builded for himselfM2
A monument of quicksand limed with bloodS
Horse leech Marat blear eyed vile vulture bornA3
Fair Charlotte's dagger robbed the guillotineW2
Black biled green visaged traitorous RobespierreF
That buzzard beaked hawk taloned octopusF
Who played with pale poltroonery of menN2
And drank the cup of flattery till he reeledS
Hell's pope uncrowned immortal for a dayS
Tinville relentless dog of murder plotS
Doom judge whose trembling victims were foredoomedS
Maillard who sucked his milk from Murder's dugsF
Twin whelp to Theroigne captain of the hagsF
Jourdan red grizzled mule son blotched with bloodS
Headsman forever famous infamousF
Keen hag whelped journalist Camille DesmoulinsF
Who with a hundred other of his ilkB2
Hissed on the hounds and smeared his bread with bloodS
Lebon man fiend that vampire ghoul who drankB3
Hot blood of headless victims and compelledS
Mothers to view the murder of their babesF
At whose red guillotine in Arras raisedS
The pipe and fiddle played at every fallY
Of ghastly head the ribald Ca IraF
And fiends unnamed and nameless brutes untaledS
-
Petticoat patriots sans bas and Sans culottesF
Rampant in rags and hunger toothed uproarF
Paris the proud With Jacobin clubs they clubC3
The head of France till all her brains are outS
Hired murder hunts in packs Men murder madS
Slay for the love of murder Gloomy nightS
Hiding her stars lest they in pity fallY
Beholds a thousand guiltless trembling soulsF
Men women children forth from prisons flungG2
In flare of torch and glare of demon eyesF
Among the howling wolves and lazar hagsF
Crying for mercy where no mercy isF
Hewed down in heaps by bloody ax and pikeD3
From their grim battlements the imps of hellY
Indignant hissed and damped their fires with tearsF
And Manhood from the watch towers of the worldS
Cried in the name of Human Nature HoldS
As well the drifting snail might strive to stillY
The volcan heaved storm struck moon maddened seaF
Blood frenzied beasts demand their feast of bloodS
Liberty Equality Fraternity the cryF
Of blood hounds baying on the track of babesF
Queen innocent beheaded mother queenW2
And queenly Roland Nature's queenly queenW2
Aye at the foot of bloody guillotineW2
She stood a heroine before her loomedS
The Goddess of Liberty in statue stoneU
Queen Roland saw and spake the words that ringE3
Along the centuries O LibertyF
What crimes are committed in thy name and diedS
And when the headsman raised her severed headS
To hell dogs shouting Vive la LiberteS
Godlike disdain still sparkled in her eyesF
Grim Hell herself in pity stood aghastS
Clanged shut her doors and stopped her ears with pitchF3
-
See the wise ruler father of BrazilY
Who struck the shackles from a million slavesF
Whose reign was peace and love and gentlenessF
Despoiled and driven from the land he lovesF
See jealous Labor strike the hand that feedsF
And burn the mills that grind his daily breadS
Yea in blind rage denounce the very lawsF
That shield his home from Europe's pauperdomX2
See the grieved farmer raise his horny handS
And splutter garlic Hear the demagoguesF
Fist maul the wind and weather cock the crowdS
With brazen foreheads full of empty noiseF
Out bellowing the bulls of Bashan and beholdS
Shrill wrinkled Amazons in high harangueG3
Stamp their flat feet and gnash their toothless gumsF
And flaunt their petticoat flag of LibertyF
Hear the old bandogs of the Daily PressF
Chained to their party posts or fetter freeF
And running amuck against old party creedsF
On howl their packs and glory in the fightS
See mangy curs whose editorial earsF
Prick to all winds to catch the popular breezeF
Slang whanging yelp and froth and snap and snarlY
And sniff the gutters for their daily foodS
And these are they our prophets and our priestsF
Hurra Hurra Hurra for LibertyF
Flaunt the red flag and flutter the petticoatS
Ran tan the drums and let the bugles brayS
The eagle scream and sixty million throatsF
Sing Yankee doodle Yankee doodle dooS
-
The state is sick and every fool a quackH3
Running with pills and plasters and sure curesF
And every pill and package labelled IsmX2
See Liberty run mad and AnarchyF
Bearing the torch the dagger and the bombX2
Red mouthed run riot in her sacred nameX2
Hear mobs of idlers cry EqualityF
Let all men share alike divide divideS
Butting their heads against the granite rocksF
Of Nature and the eternal laws of GodS
Pull down the toiler lift the idler upM
Despoil the frugal crown the negligentS
Offer rewards to idleness and crimeX2
And pay a premium for improvidenceF
Fools can your wolfish cries repeal the lawsF
Of God engraven on the granite hillsF
Written in every Wrinkle of the earthI3
On every plain on every mountain topM
Nay blazened o'er all the boundless UniverseF
On every jewel that sparkles on God's throneU
And can ye rectify God's mighty planH2
O pygmies can ye measure God himselfM2
Aye would ye measure God's almighty powerF
Go crack Earth's bones and heave the granite hillsF
Measure the ocean in a drinking cupM
Measure Eternity by the town clockJ3
Nay with a yard stick measure the UniverseF
Measure for measure Measure God by manH2
Fools to the midmost marrow of your bonesF
O buzzing flies and gnats Ye cannot strikeD3
One little atom from God's UniverseF
Or warp the laws of Nature by a hairF
-
His loving eye sees through all evil goodS
Man's life is but a breath but lo with HimX2
To day to morrow yesterday are oneR2
One in the cycle of eternal timeX2
That hath beginning none nor any endS
The Earth revolving round her sire the SunR2
Measures the flying year of mortal manH2
But who shall measure God's eternal yearF
The unbegotten everlasting GodS
Unmade eternal all pervading powerF
Center and source of all things high and lowY
Maker and master of the UniverseF
Ah nay the mighty Universe itselfM2
All things in nature bear God's signatureF
So plainly writ that he who runs may readS
We know not what life is how may we knowY
Death what it is or what may lie beyondS
Whoso forgets his God forgets himselfM2
-
Let me not blindly judge my brother manH2
There is but one just judge there is but oneR2
Who knows the hearts of men Him let us praiseF
Not with blind prayer or idle sounding psalmsF
But let us daily in our daily worksF
Praise God by righteous deeds and brother loveM2
Go forth into the forest and observeM2
For men believe their eyes and doubt their earsF
The creeping vine the shrub the lowly bushK3
The dwarfed and stunted trees the bent and bowedS
And here and there a lordly oak or elmX2
And o'er them all a tall and princely pineV2
All struggle upward but the many failY
The low dwarfed by the shadows of the greatS
The stronger basking in the genial sunR2
Observe the myriad fishes of the seasF
The mammoths and the minnows of the deepM
Behold the eagle and the little wrenN2
The condor on his cliff the pigeon hawkL3
The teal the coot the broad winged albatrossF
Turn to the beasts in forest and in fieldS
The lion the lynx the mammoth and the mouseF
The sheep the goat the bullock and the horseF
The fierce gorillas and the chattering apesF
Progenitors and prototypes of manH2
Not only differences in genera findS
But grades in every kind and every classF
-
I would not doom to serfdom or to toilY
One race one caste one class or any manH2
Give every honest man an honest chanceF
Protect alike the rich man and the poorF
Let not the toiler live upon a crustS
While Croesus' bread is buttered on both sidesF
-
O people's king and shepherd throned LawY
Strike down the monsters of MonopolyF
Lift up thy club O mighty HerculesF
Behold thy Labors yet unfinished areF
Tear off thy Nessus shirt and bare thine armsF
The Numean lion fattens on our flocksF
The Lernean Hydra coils around our farmsF
Our towns our mills our mines our factoriesF
The triple monster Geryon lives againN2
Grown quadruple and over all our plainsF
And thousand hills his fattening oxen feedS
Stymphalean buzzards ravage round our fieldsF
The Augean stables reeking stench the landS
The hundred headed monster CerberusF
That throttled Greece and ravaged hapless FranceF
Hath broke from hell and howls for human bloodS
Lift up thy knotted club O HerculesF
Strike swift and sure crush down the Hydra's headsF
Throttle the Numean lion strike nor spareF
The monster Geryon or the buzzard beaksF
Clean the Augean stables if thou can'stS
But hurl the hundred headed monster downM3
Headlong to Hades chain him make thee sureF
He shall not burst the bonds of hell againN2
-
To you O chosen makers of the lawsF
The nation looks and shall it look in vainA2
Will ye sit idle or in idle windS
Blow out your zeal and crack your party whipsF
Or drivel dotage while the crisis criesF
While all around the dark horizon loomX2
Clouds thunder capped that bode a hurricaneA2
Sleep ye as slept the Notables of FranceF
While under them an hundred AEtnas hissedS
And spluttered sulphur gathering for the shockJ3
Be ye our Hercules and Lynceus eyedS
Still ye the storm or ere the storm beginC2
Ere Liberty take Justice by the throatS
And run moon mad a Malay murder muckN3
Throttle the Trusts and crush the coils combinedS
That crack our bones and fatten on our fieldsF
Strike down the hissing heads of AnarchyF
Strike swift and hard nor parley with the fiendS
Mothered of hell and father of all fiendsF
Fell monster with an hundred bloody mouthsF
And every mouth an hundred hissing tonguesF
And every tongue drips venom from his fangsF
-
Protect the toiling millions by just lawsF
Let honest labor find its sure rewardS
Let willing hands find work and honest breadS
So frame the laws that every honest manH2
May find his home protected and his craftS
Let Liberty and Order walk hand in handS
With Justice happy Trio let them ruleY
Put up the bars bar out the pauper swarmsF
Alike from Asia's huts and Europe's hivesF
Let charity begin at home In vainA2
Will we bar out the swarms from Europe's hivesF
And Asia's countless lepers if our portsF
Are free to all the products of their handsF
Put up the bars bar out the pauper hordesF
Bar out their products that compete with oursF
Give honest toil at home an honest chanceF
Build up our own and keep our coin at homeX2
In vain our mines pour forth their wealth of goldS
And silver if by every ship it sailY
For London Paris Birmingham or BerlinC2
-
We have been prodigal The days are pastS
When virgin acres wanted willing handsF
When fertile empires lay in wildernessF
Waiting the teeming millions of the worldS
Lo where the Indian and the bison roamed LordsF
of the prairies boundless as the sea ButS
twenty years ago behold the changeO3
Homesteads and hamlets flocks and lowing herdsF
Railways and cities miles of rustling cornA3
And leagues on leagues of waving fields of goldS
-
Let wise men teach and honest men proclaimX2
The mutual dependence of the rich and poorF
For if the wealthy profit by the poorF
The poor man profits ever by the richF3
Wealth builds our churches and our collegesF
Wealth builds the mills that grind the million's breadS
Wealth builds the factories that clothe the poorF
Wealth builds the railways and the million rideS
God hath so willed the toiling millions reapM
The golden harvest that the rich have sownU
Six feet of earth make all men even loY
The toilers are the rich man's heirs at lastS
But there be men would grumble at their lotS
Even if it were a corner lot on BroadwayS
We stand upon the shoulders of the pastS
Who knoweth not the past how may he knowY
The folly or the wisdom of to dayS
For by comparison we weigh the goodS
And by comparison all evil weighS
What can we reason but from what we knowY
Let honest men look back an hundred yearsF
Nay fifty and behold the wondrous changeO3
Where wooden tubs like sluggards sailed the seaF
Steam ships of steel like greyhounds course the mainA2
Where lumbering coach and wain and wagon toiledS
Through mud and mire and rut and rugged wayS
The cushioned train a mile a minute fliesF
Then by slow coach the message went and cameX2
But now by lightning bridled to man's useF
We flash our silent thoughts from sea to seaF
Nay under ocean's depths from shore to shoreF
And talk by telephone to distant earsF
The dreams of yesterday are deeds to dayS
Our frugal mothers spun with tedious toilY
And wove the homespun cloth for all their foldS
Their needles plied by weary fingers sewedS
Behold the humming factory spins and weavesF
The singing Singer sews with lightning speedS
Our fathers sowed their little fields by handS
And reaped with bended sickles and bent backsF
By hand they bound the sheaves of wheat and ryeF
With flails they threshed and winnowed in the windS
Now by machines we sow and reap and bindS
By steam we thresh and sack the bounteous grainA2
These are but few of all the million waysF
Whereby man's toil is lightened and he hath gainedS
Tenfold in comfort luxury and easeF
For these and more the millions that enjoyE2
May thank the wise and wealthy few who gaveM2
If the rich are richer the poor are richer tooS
A narrow demagogue I count the manH2
Who cries to day Progress and PovertyF
As if a thousand added comforts madeS
The poor man poorer and his lot the worseF
'Tis but a new toot on the same old hornA3
That brayed in ancient Greece and BabylonZ
And now amid the ruined walls of RomeX2
Lies buried fathoms deep in dead men's dustS
-
Progress and Poverty Man hast thou tracedS
The blood that throbs commingled in thy veinsF
Over thy shoulder hast thou cast a glanceF
On thine old Celtic Saxon Norman siresF
Huddled in squalid huts on beds of strawY
Barefooted churls swine herding in the fensF
Bare legged cowherds in their cow skin coatsF
Wearing the collars of their Thane or EorlY
His serfs his slaves even as thy dog is thineV2
Harried by hunger pillaged ravaged slainA2
By Viking robbers and the warring JarlsF
Oft glad like hunted swine to fill their mawsF
With herbs and acorns Progress and PovertyF
The humblest laborer in our mills or minesF
Is royal Thane beside those slavish churlsF
The frugal farmer in our land to dayS
Lives better than their kings himself a kingE3
-
Lo every age refutes old errors stillY
And still begets new errors for the nextS
But all the creeds of politics or priestsF
Can't make one error truth one truth a lieY
There is no religion higher than the truthQ2
Men make the creeds but God ordains the lawY
-
Above all cant all arguments of menN2
Above all superstitions old or newS
Above all creeds of every age and climeX2
Stands the eternal truth the creed of creedsF
-
Sweet is the lute to him who hath not heardS
The prattle of his children at his kneesF
Ah he is rich indeed whose humble homeX2
Contains a frugal wife and sweet contentS

Hanford Lennox Gordon



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