Severus Speaks Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOLPQRS TLUDVWXYZLA2B2ZC2D2E 2E2E2F2G2H2STZE2E2E2 E2I2E2J2E2 E2RE2K2J2| For nearly eighteen years upon my head | A |
| The crown of Empire heavily has set | B |
| The burden on my shoulders I have borne | C |
| Of an estate encumbered far and wide | D |
| With debts I had to pay Ah everywhere | E |
| Murmurs revolts or wars assailed my throne | F |
| Now quiet comes even in Britain here | G |
| The most disturbing Province of them all | H |
| Yet I must go the profits I must leave | I |
| To others to enjoy to hold with ease | J |
| What I with bitter travail have obtained | K |
| Peace there must be and mutual amity | L |
| The one support to hold the Empire firm | M |
| To keep the Glory of the Empire bright | N |
| Discord would be the ruin of the pile | O |
| That my poor hands have built so painfully | L |
| Only when Peace prevails may we behold | P |
| How small things grow to greatness | Q |
| Now I die | R |
| And all the issue of the coming days | S |
| I leave to my successor and my son | T |
| Though he has been a cruel son to me | L |
| Bassanius I name your Emperor | U |
| The new made Antoninus who long tried | D |
| To get that title by the sword | V |
| Who sought my death the dangers knowing not | W |
| That always must surround a diadem | X |
| Forgetting that the places of the great | Y |
| Are guarded well by Envy and by Fear | Z |
| Blind is ambition for it cannot see | L |
| That though a sovereign's power large may seem | A2 |
| To others by himself the things possessed | B2 |
| Are counted small enough aye small theyare | Z |
| For titles cannot make a happy man | C2 |
| While his thin thread of life must waver so | D2 |
| His might is laid upon a weak support | E2 |
| So men may point to me and say 'Behold | E2 |
| A man who once was all things in this world | E2 |
| Yet now is nothing For like meaner men | F2 |
| He paid his debt to nature His exploits | G2 |
| He left behind ' Aye friends I leave my deeds | H2 |
| For you to register Reproach or praise | S |
| The shadowing pencil of oblivion | T |
| At last will blot And yet that all the care | Z |
| That I have taken for the general good | E2 |
| May bring forth happy fruits when I am dust | E2 |
| This would I make my one my last request | E2 |
| Assist my sons with counsel and with aid | E2 |
| That they may rule according to the law | I2 |
| And you obey according to the right | E2 |
| So through you both my legions and my sons | J2 |
| The Empire shall be held in high respect | E2 |
| - | |
| And then the dying Emperor feebly turned | E2 |
| Toward the urn wherein so soon must lie | R |
| His ashes and he cried So shalt thou hold | E2 |
| What the whole world one time could not contain | K2 |
| Thus died Severus | J2 |
Helen Leah Reed
(1)
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About Severus Speaks
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