Our Canal Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCDCEFEFGHGHIJJI KLMMLNOACCONAKCCCCK JCJCPPQRRQSTSTTUCAUC RR KCMTRTRVWXWMWK YYWWZA2A2ZCA2CA2FFB2 B2C2JC2JUAU KCMCCD2CD2ME2K A2TCTA2TTA2TA2A2AA2A A2A2A2TTA2 A2WA2TW BTF2TA2TA2JJA2| To Colonel Goethals and the Other Laborers in the Canal Zone | A |
| - | |
| - | |
| In lazy laughing Panama | B |
| O flutter of ribbon 'twixt the seas | C |
| The low roofed houses lie afloat | D |
| White foam drift of the Caribbees | C |
| Under lithe palms that fan the sky | E |
| Down in each drowsy plaza there | F |
| Brown footed girls go glancing by | E |
| With red hibiscus in their hair | F |
| Low mountains trailing veils of cloud | G |
| In the two oceans dip their feet | H |
| And hear the proud tides roaring loud | G |
| Where Andes with Sierras meet | H |
| O Panama O ribbon twist | I |
| That ties the continents together | J |
| Now East and West shall slip your tether | J |
| And keep their ancient tryst | I |
| - | |
| What are you doing here | K |
| Young men with your engines vast | L |
| Sons of the pioneer | M |
| Who conquered wastes austere | M |
| And from ocean to ocean passed | L |
| Sons of the men who made | N |
| Reaper and telegraph | O |
| Steamer and aeroplane | A |
| All the iron handed things | C |
| Swift feet and tongues and wings | C |
| That would make the old gods laugh | O |
| For the bitter games they played | N |
| With the secrets they kept in vain | A |
| What are you doing here | K |
| Young men with your dredges and drills | C |
| That level the ancient hills | C |
| Into a path for ships | C |
| Open your eyes and lips | C |
| What do you see and hear | K |
| - | |
| 'Oh we build you the world's last wonder | J |
| The thing not made with hands | C |
| Our steel beasts gnaw asunder | J |
| The locked and laboring lands | C |
| We choke the torrent's rage | P |
| And bid him his wrath assuage | P |
| By drowning the jungle deep | Q |
| In steel locked chambers gray | R |
| We hold his floods at bay | R |
| On wide blue lakes asleep | Q |
| Now shall the brave ships ride | S |
| Over the crouching hill | T |
| From eager tide to tide | S |
| That so we may fulfil | T |
| The iron century's will | T |
| That so our country maker of tools sublime | U |
| The nations may surprise | C |
| With this last gift of the grand old workman | A |
| Time | U |
| His prodigy powerful delicate sentient wise | C |
| Perfect in strange completeness strong to obey | R |
| Strong to compel the world along its way | R |
| And praise man's triumph in its mighty rhyme ' | - |
| - | |
| But what are you doing here | K |
| Young men with your flags | C |
| With your glamour of joy severe | M |
| With your villages up the hill | T |
| The screened little houses gay | R |
| Where the good of all is the will | T |
| Of each in a grand new way | R |
| Sons of the men who founded | V |
| New states in the wilds to be | W |
| Garden and range unbounded | X |
| For young Democracy | W |
| Sons of the heroes dear | M |
| Who fought for liberty | W |
| What are you doing here | K |
| - | |
| 'Look it's the same old fight | Y |
| Out of the dark to the light | Y |
| Never the end shall be | W |
| Till the last slave is free | W |
| Here while we dig the Ditch | Z |
| We would build you a perfect state | A2 |
| Where service makes men great | A2 |
| And the great scorn to be rich | Z |
| Where each man has his place | C |
| And a measure more than his meed | A2 |
| A banner of joy to grace | C |
| The strength of the daily deed | A2 |
| Where Disease trapped in his lair | F |
| With Squalor and Want and Care | F |
| Is slain with the poison fume | B2 |
| He loosed for the proud world's doom | B2 |
| Where the Work is a marching song | C2 |
| Sung by us all together | J |
| Bearing the race along | C2 |
| Through good and evil weather | J |
| Oh tell them shout it through the halls of time | U |
| When the Big Chief unrolls his glorious plan | A |
| Draws hearts and hands together in perfect rhyme | U |
| Nothing shall be impossible to Man ' | - |
| - | |
| But what are you doing here | K |
| Young men with your gates | C |
| With your bells and beacons clear | M |
| Where the hope of the whole world waits | C |
| With your call across the seas | C |
| To the ships that circle afar | D2 |
| To the nations that burn and freeze | C |
| Each under her separate star | D2 |
| Who followed the Truth austere | M |
| Of poets and prophets grave | E2 |
| What are you doing here | K |
| - | |
| 'Hush we wait at the gate | A2 |
| Till the dream shall be the law | T |
| He gave us our beacons and bells | C |
| Who first the vision saw | T |
| And the fleets of the world in state | A2 |
| Shall follow his caravels | T |
| Ghost led our ships shall sail | T |
| West to the ancient East | A2 |
| Once more the quest of the Grail | T |
| And the greatest shall be the least | A2 |
| We shall circle the earth around | A2 |
| With peace like a garland fine | A |
| The warring world shall be bound | A2 |
| With a girdle of love divine | A |
| What build we from coast to coast | A2 |
| It's a path for the Holy Ghost | A2 |
| Oh Tomorrow and Yesterday | A2 |
| At its gate clasp hands touch lips | T |
| They shall send men forth in ships | T |
| To find the perfect way | A2 |
| - | |
| 'All that was writ shall be fulfilled at last | A2 |
| Come till we round the circle end the story | W |
| The west bound sun leads forward to the past | A2 |
| The thundering cruisers and the caravels | T |
| Tomorrow you shall hear our song of glory | W |
| Rung in the chime of India's temple bells ' | - |
| - | |
| O lazy laughing Panama | B |
| O flutter of ribbon 'twixt the seas | T |
| Pirate and king your colors wore | F2 |
| And stained with blood your golden keys | T |
| Now what strange guest on what mad quest | A2 |
| Lifts up your trophy to the breeze | T |
| O Panama O ribbon twist | A2 |
| That ties the continents together | J |
| Now East and West shall slip your tether | J |
| And keep their ancient tryst | A2 |
Harriet Monroe
(1)
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