Peru. Canto The Fifth. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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THE ARGUMENTA
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Character of Zamor a Bard his passion for Aciloe daughter of the Cazique who rules the valley the Peruvian tribe prepare to defend themselves a battle the Peruvians are vanquished Aciloe's father is made a prisoner and Zamor is supposed to have fallen in the engagement Alphonso becomes enamoured of Aciloe offers to marry her she rejects him in revenge he puts her father to the torture she appears to consent in order to save him meets Zamor in a wood Las Casas joins them leads the two lovers to Alphonso and obtains their freedom Zamor conducts Aciloe and her father to Chili a reflection on the influence of Poetry over the human mindB
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PERU CANTO THE FIFTHC
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In this sweet scene to all the virtues kindB
Mild Zamor own'd the richest gifts of mindB
For o'er his tuneful breast the heav'nly museD
Shed from her sacred spring inspiring dewsD
She loves to breathe her hallow'd flame where artE
Has never veil'd the soul or warp'd the heartE
Where fancy glows with all her native fireF
And passion lives on the exulting lyreG
Nature in terror rob'd or beauty drestE
Could thrill with dear enchantment Zamor's breastE
He lov'd the languid sigh the zephyr poursH
He lov'd the murm'ring rill that fed the flow'rsH
But more the hollow sound the wild winds formI
When black upon the billow hangs the stormI
The torrent rolling from the mountain steepJ
Its white foam trembling on the darken'd deepJ
And oft on Andes' height with eager gazeH
He view'd the sinking sun's reflected raysH
Glow like unnumber'd stars that seem to restE
Sublime upon his ice encircled breastE
Oft his wild warblings charm'd the festal hourF
Rose in the vale and languish'd in the bowerF
The heart's responsive tones he well could moveK
Whose song was nature and whose theme was loveL
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Aciloe's beauties his fond eye confestE
Yet more Aciloe's virtues warm'd his breastE
Ah stay ye tender hours of young delightE
Suspend ye moments your impatient flightE
For sure if aught on earth can bliss impartE
Can shed the genuine joy that sooths the heartE
'Tis felt when early passion's pure controulM
Unfolds the first affections of the soulM
Bids her soft sympathies the bosom moveK
And wakes the mild emotions dear to loveL
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The gentle tribe Aciloe's sire obey'dE
Who still in wisdom and in mercy sway'dE
From him the dear illusions long had fledE
That o'er the morn of life enchantment shedE
Yet virtue's calm reflections cheer'd his breastE
And life was joy serene and death was restE
Tho' sweet the early spring her blossoms brightE
When first she swells the heart with pure delightE
Yet not unlovely is the sober rayN
That meekly beams o'er autumn's temper'd dayN
Dear are her fading beauties to the soulM
While scarce perceiv'd the deep'ning shadows rollM
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Now the charm'd lovers dress their future yearsH
In forms of joy then weep delicious tearsH
Expressive on the glowing cheek that hungO
And spoke the fine emotions whence they sprungO
'Twas truth's warm energy love's sweet controulM
'Twas all that virtue whispers to the soulM
When lo Iberia's ruthless sons advanceH
Roll the stern eye and shake the pointed lanceH
Oh Nature the destroying band opposeH
Nature arrest their course they come thy foesH
Benignant power where thou with lib'ral careP
Hast planted joy they come to plant despairP
Peruvia's tribe beheld the hostile throngQ
With desolating fury pour alongQ
With horror their ensanguin'd path they trac'dE
And now to meet the murd'ring band they hasteE
The hoary chief to the dire conflict leadsH
His death devoted train the battle bleedsH
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Aciloe's searching eye can now no moreR
The form of Zamor or her sire exploreR
She hears the moan of death in every galeM
She sees a purple torrent stain the valeM
While destin'd all the bitterness to proveK
Of mourning duty and of bleeding loveL
Each name that's dearest wakes her bursting sighS
Throbs at her soul and trembles in her eyeS
Now pierc'd by wounds and breathless from the fightE
Her friend the valiant Omar struck her sightE
Omar she cried you bleed unhappy youthT
And sure that look unfolds some fatal truthT
Speak pitying speak my frantic fears forgiveU
Say does my father does my Zamor liveV
All all is lost the dying Omar saidE
And endless griefs are thine dear wretched maidE
I saw thy aged sire a captive boundE
I saw thy Zamor press the crimson groundE
He could no more he yields his fleeting breathW
While all in vain she seeks repose in deathW
But oh how far each other pang aboveL
Throbs the wild agony of hopeless loveL
That grief for which in vain shall comfort shedE
Her healing balm or time in pity spreadE
The veil that throws a shade o'er other careP
For here and here alone profound despairP
Casts o'er the suff'ring soul a lasting gloomX
And slowly leads her victim to the tombX
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Now rude tumultuous sounds assail her earY
And soon Alphonso's victor train appearZ
Then as with ling'ring step he mov'd alongQ
She saw her father mid' the captive throngQ
She saw with dire dismay she wildly flewM
Her snowy arms around his form she threwM
He bleeds she cries I hear his moan of painA2
My father will not bear the galling chainA2
My tender father will his child forsakeB2
His mourning child but soon her heart will breakB2
Cruel Alphonso let not helpless ageC2
Feel thy hard yoke and meet thy barb'rous rageC2
Or oh if ever mercy mov'd thy soulM
If ever thou hast felt her blest controulM
Grant my sad heart's desire and let me shareP
The load that feeble frame but ill can bearP
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While the young victor as she falt'ring spokeD2
With fix'd attention and with ardent lookE2
Hung on her tender glance that love inspiresH
The rage of conquest yields to milder firesH
Yet as he gaz'd enraptur'd on her formI
Her virtues awe the heart her beauties warmI
And while impassion'd tones his love revealM
He asks with holy rites his vows to sealM
Hop'st thou she cried those sacred ties shall joinF2
This bleeding heart this trembling hand to thineG2
To thine whose ruthless heart has caus'd my painsH
Whose barb'rous hands the blood of Zamor stainsH
Can'st thou the murd'rer of my peace controulM
The grief that swells the pang that rends my soulM
That pang shall death shall death alone removeK
And cure the anguish of despairing loveL
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In vain th' enamour'd youth essay'd each artE
To calm her sorrows and to sooth her heartE
While in the range of thought her tender breastE
Could find no hope on which her griefs might restE
While her soft soul which Zamor's image fillsH
Shrinks from the cruel author of its illsH
At length to madness stung by fix'd disdainA2
The victor gives to rage the fiery reinA2
And bids her sorrows flow from that fond sourceH
Where strong affection feels their keenest forceH
Whose breast when most it suffers only heedsH
The sharper pangs by which another bleedsH
For now his cruel mandate doom'd her sireF
Stretch'd on the bed of torture to expireG
Bound on the rack unmov'd the victim liesH
Stifling in agony weak nature's sighsH
But oh what form of language can impartE
The frantic grief that wrung Aciloe's heartE
When to the height of hopeless sorrow wroughtE
The fainting spirit feels a pang of thoughtE
Which never painted in the hues of speechH2
Lives at the soul and mocks expression's reachH2
At length she trembling cried the conflict's o'erF
My heart my breaking heart can bear no moreR
Yet spare his feeble age my vows receiveI2
And oh in mercy bid my father liveV
Wilt them be mine the enamour'd chief repliesH
Yes cruel see he dies my father diesH
Save save my father Dear angelic maidE
The charm'd Alphonso cried be swift obey'dE
Unbind his chains Ah calm each anxious PainA2
Aciloe's voice no more shall plead in vainA2
Plac'd near his child thy aged sire shall shareP
Our joys still cherish'd by thy tender careP
No more she cried will fate that bliss allowM
Before my lips shall breathe the nuptial vowM
Some faithful guide shall lead his aged feetE
To distant scenes that yield a safe retreatE
Where some soft heart some gentle hand will shedE
The drops of comfort on his hoary headE
My Zamor if thy spirit trembles nearZ
Forgive she ceas'd and pour'd her hopeless tearP
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Now night descends and steeps each weary breastE
Save sad Aciloe's in the balm of restE
Her aged father's beauteous dwelling stoodE
Near the cool shelter of a waving woodE
But now the gales that bend its foliage dieS
Soft on the silver turf its shadows lieS
While slowly wand'ring o'er the scene belowM
The gazing moon look'd pale as silent woeM
The sacred shade amid whose fragrant bowersH
Zamor oft sooth'd with song the evening hoursH
Pour'd to the lunar orb his magic layM
More mild more pensive than her musing rayM
That shade with trembling step the mourner soughtE
And thus she breath'd her tender plaintive thoughtE
Ah where dear object of these piercing painsH
Where rests thy murder'd form thy lov'd remainsH
On what sad spot my Zamor flow'd the woundE
That purpled with thy streaming blood the groundE
Oh had Aciloe in that hour been nighS
Had'st thou but fix'd on me thy closing eyeS
Told with faint voice 'twas death's worst pang to partE
And dropp'd thy last cold tear upon my heartE
A pang less bitter then would waste this breastE
That in the grave alone shall seek its restE
Soon as some friendly hand in mercy leadsH
My aged father safe to Chili's meadsH
Death shall for ever seal the nuptial tieS
The heart belov'd by thee is fix'd to dieS
She ceas'd when dimly thro' a flood of tearsH
She sees her Zamor's form his voice she hearsH
'Tis he she cried he moves upon the galeM
My Zamor's sigh is deep his look is paleM
I faint his arms receive her sinking frameJ2
He calls his love by every tender nameJ2
He stays her fleeting spirit life anewM
Warms her cold cheek his tears her cheek bedewS
Thy Zamor lives he cried as on the groundS
I senseless lay some child of pity boundS
My bleeding wounds and bore me from the plainA2
But thou art lost and I have liv'd in vainA2
Forgive she cried in accents of despairP
Zamor forgive thy wrongs and oh forbearP
The mild reproach that fills thy mournful eyeS
The tear that wets thy cheek I mean to dieS
Could I behold my aged sire endureP
The pains his wretched child had power to cureP
Still still my father stretch'd in death I seeH
His grey locks trembling as he gaz'd on meH
My Zamor soft breathe not so loud a sighS
Some list'ning foe may pityless denyS
This parting hour hark sure some step I hearP
Zamor again is lost for now 'tis nearP
She paus'd when sudden from the shelt'ring woodS
A venerable form before them stoodS
Fear not soft maid he cry'd nor think I comeK2
To seal with deeper miseries thy doomX
To bruise the breaking heart that sorrow rendsH
Ah not for this Las Casas hither bendsH
He comes to bid those rising sorrows ceaseH
To pour upon thy wounds the balm of peaceH
I rov'd with dire Almagro's ruthless trainA2
Thro' scenes of death to Chili's verdant plainA2
Their wish to bathe that verdant plain in goreP
Then from its bosom drag the golden oreP
But mine to check the stream of human bloodS
Or mingle drops of anguish with the floodS
When from those fair unconquer'd vales they fledS
This frame was stretch'd upon the languid bedS
Of pale disease when helpless and aloneL2
The Chilese spy'd their friend the murd'rers goneM2
With eager fondness round my couch they drewP
And my cold hand with gushing tears bedewS
By day they sooth my pains with sweet delightS
And give to watchings the chill hours of nightS
For me their tender spirits joy to proveK
The cares of pity and the toils of loveL
Soon as I heard that o'er this gentle sceneN2
Where peace and virtue mingled smile sereneN2
The foe like clouds that fold the tempest hungO
I hither flew my breast with anguish wrungO
A Chilese band the pathless desert trac'dS
And softly bore me o'er its dreary wasteS
Then parting at my feet they bend and claspO2
These aged knees my soul yet feels their graspO2
Now o'er the vale with painful step I stray'dS
And reach'd the shelt'ring grove there hapless maidS
My list'ning ear has caught thy piercing wailM
My heart has trembled to thy moving taleM
And art thou he the mournful pair exclaimJ2
How dear to mis'ry's soul Las Casas' nameJ2
Spirit benign who every grief can shareP
Whose pity stoops to make the wretch its careP
Weep not for us in vain thy tear shall flowM
For hopeless anguish and distracting woeM
They ceas'd in accents mild the saint returnsH
Yet let me sooth the pains my bosom mournsH
Come gentle suff'rers follow to yon faneA2
Where rests Alphonso with his victor trainA2
My voice shall urge his soul to gen'rous deedsH
And bid him hear when truth and nature pleadsH
While in soft tones Las Casas thus exprestS
His pious purpose o'er Aciloe's breastS
A dawning ray of cheering comfort streamsH
But faint the hope that on her spirit beamsH
Faint as when ebbing life must soon departS
The pulse that trembles while it warms the heartS
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Before Alphonso now the lovers standS
The aged suff'rer join'd the mournful bandS
While with the look that guardian seraphs wearP
When sent to calm the throbs of mortal careP
The story of their woes Las Casas toldS
Then cry'd the wretched Zamor here beholdS
Hop'st thou fond man a passion to controulM
Fix'd in the breast and woven in the soulM
But know mistaken youth thy power in vainA2
Would bind thy victim in the nuptial chainA2
That faithful heart will rend the galling tieS
That heart will break that tender form will dieS
Then by each sacred name to nature dearP
By her strong shriek her agonizing tearP
By every horror bleeding passion knowsH
By the wild glance that speaks her frantic woesH
By all the wasting pangs that rend her breastS
By the deep groan that gives her spirit restS
Let mercy's pleading voice thy bosom moveK
And fear to burst the bonds of plighted loveL
He paus'd now Zamor's moan Alphonso hearsH
Now sees the cheek of age bedew'd with tearsH
Palid and motionless Aciloe standsH
Fix'd was her mournful eye and clasp'd her handsH
Her heart was chill'd her trembling heart for thereP
Hope slowly sinks in cold and dark despairP
Alphonso's soul was mov'd No more he criedS
My hapless flame shall hearts like yours divideS
Live tender spirit soft Aciloe liveV
And all the wrongs of mad'ning rage forgiveU
Go from this desolated region farP
These plains where av'rice spreads the waste of warP
Go where pure pleasures gild the peaceful sceneN2
Go where mild virtue sheds her ray sereneN2
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In vain th' enraptur'd maid would now impartS
The rising joy that swells that pains her heartS
Las Casas' feet in floods of tears she steepsH
Looks on her sire and smiles then turns and weepsH
Then smiles again while her flush'd cheek revealsH
The mingled tumult of delight she feelsH
So fall the crystal showers of fragrant springP2
And o'er the pure clear sky soft shadows flingP2
Then paint the drooping clouds from which they flowM
With the warm colours of the lucid bowM
Now o'er the barren desert Zamor leadsH
Aciloe and her sire to Chili's meadsH
There many a wand'ring wretch condemn'd to roamQ2
By hard oppression found a shelt'ring homeQ2
Zamor to pity tun'd the vocal shellM
Bright'ning the tear of anguish as it fellM
Did e'er the human bosom throb with painA2
The heav'nly muse has sought to sooth in vainA2
She who can still with harmony its sighsH
And wake the sound at which affliction diesH
Can bid the stormy passions backward rollM
And o'er their low hung tempests lift the soulM
With magic touch paint nature's various sceneN2
Wild on the mountain in the vale sereneN2
Can tinge the breathing rose with brighter bloomX
Or hang the sombrous rock in deeper gloomX
Explore the gem whose pure reflected rayP
Throws o'er the central cave a paler dayP
Or soaring view the comet's fiery frameJ2
Rush o'er the sky and fold the sphere in flameJ2
While the charm'd spirit as her accents moveK
Is wrapt in wonder or dissolv'd in love nbspO2

Helen Maria Williams



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