The Bastille: A Vision Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCCBDEDE A FGGFHIHI A JJKKLLMM N OJJOPDPD N QRRQJSJS N TTUUVVEE N WPPWXOXO N EEEEKEKE K KKKKWWEE K YWWYESEP K KZA2KEEEE K EEB2B2WWA2A2| I | A |
| - | |
| Drear cell along whose lonely bounds | B |
| Unvisited by light | C |
| Chill silence dwells with night | C |
| Save where the clanging fetter sounds | B |
| Abyss where mercy never came | D |
| Nor hope the wretch can find | E |
| Where long inaction wastes the frame | D |
| And half annihilates the mind | E |
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| II | A |
| - | |
| Stretch'd helpless in this living tomb | F |
| O haste congenial death | G |
| Seize seize this ling'ring breath | G |
| And shroud me in unconscious gloom | F |
| BRITAIN thy exil'd son no more | H |
| Thy blissful vales shall see | I |
| Why did I leave thy hallow'd shore | H |
| Ah land ador'd where all are free | I |
| - | |
| - | |
| III | A |
| - | |
| BASTILLE within thy hideous pile | J |
| Which stains of blood defile | J |
| Thus rose the captive's sighs | K |
| Till slumber seal'd his weeping eyes | K |
| Terrific visions hover near | L |
| He sees an awful form appear | L |
| Who drags his step to deeper cells | M |
| Where stranger wilder horror dwells | M |
| - | |
| - | |
| IV | N |
| - | |
| O tear me from these haunted walls | O |
| Or these fierce shapes controul | J |
| Lest madness seize my soul | J |
| That pond'rous mask of iron falls | O |
| I see Rash mortal ha beware | P |
| Nor breathe that hidden name | D |
| Should those dire accents wound the air | P |
| Know death shall lock thy stiff'ning frame | D |
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| V | N |
| - | |
| Hark that loud bell which sullen tolls | Q |
| It wakes a shriek of woe | R |
| From yawning depths below | R |
| Shrill through this hollow vault it rolls | Q |
| A deed was done in this black cell | J |
| Unfit for mortal ear | S |
| A deed was done when toll'd that knell | J |
| No human heart could live and hear | S |
| - | |
| - | |
| VI | N |
| - | |
| Arouse thee from thy numbing glance | T |
| Near yon thick gloom advance | T |
| The solid cloud has shook | U |
| Arm all thy soul with strength to look | U |
| Enough thy starting locks have rose | V |
| Thy limbs have fail'd thy blood has froze | V |
| On scenes so foul with mad affright | E |
| I fix no more thy fasten'd sight | E |
| - | |
| - | |
| VII | N |
| - | |
| Those troubled phantoms melt away | W |
| I lose the sense of care | P |
| I feel the vital air | P |
| I see I see the light of day | W |
| Visions of bliss eternal powers | X |
| What force has shook those hated walls | O |
| What arm has rent those threat'ning towers | X |
| It falls the guilty fabric falls | O |
| - | |
| - | |
| VIII | N |
| - | |
| Now favour'd mortal now behold | E |
| To soothe thy captive state | E |
| I ope the book of fate | E |
| Mark what its registers unfold | E |
| Where this dark pile in chaos lies | K |
| With nature's execrations hurl'd | E |
| Shall Freedom's sacred temple rise | K |
| And charm an emulating world | E |
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| - | |
| IX | K |
| - | |
| 'Tis her awak'ning voice commands | K |
| Those firm those patriot bands | K |
| Arm'd to avenge her cause | K |
| And guard her violated laws | K |
| Did ever earth a scene display | W |
| More glorious to the eye of day | W |
| Than millions with according mind | E |
| Who claim the rights of human kind | E |
| - | |
| - | |
| IX | K |
| - | |
| Does the fam'd Roman page sublime | Y |
| An hour more bright unroll | W |
| To animate the soul | W |
| Than this lov'd theme of future time | Y |
| Posterity with rapture meet | E |
| The consecrated act shall hear | S |
| Age shall the glowing tale repeat | E |
| And youth shall drop the burning tear | P |
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| - | |
| X | K |
| - | |
| The peasant while he fondly sees | K |
| His infants round the hearth | Z |
| Pursue their simple mirth | A2 |
| Or emulously climb his knees | K |
| No more bewails their future lot | E |
| By tyranny's stern rod opprest | E |
| While freedom cheers his straw roof'd cot | E |
| And tells him all his toils are blest | E |
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| XI | K |
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| Philosophy O share the meed | E |
| Of freedom's noblest deed | E |
| 'Tis thine each truth to scan | B2 |
| And dignify the rank of man | B2 |
| 'Tis thine all human wrongs to heal | W |
| 'Tis thine to love all nature's weal | W |
| To give our frail existence worth | A2 |
| And shed a ray from heaven on earth | A2 |
Helen Maria Williams
(1)
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