Basil Moss Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST UVWIXYZ A2B2C2D2E2F2G2H2LI2J 2HH2K2L2M2N2O2P2Q2R2 VS2NT2U2QV2ULW2X2Y2Z 2A2 A3H2B3X2B2C3D3E3X2E3 U2F3X2X2G3E3X2X2H3E3 X2X2X2E3F3 X2X2X2I3J3F3X2E3UX2X 2K3X2L3X2M3N3X2E3G3X 2E3E3O3P3M2X2G2E3E3 X2Q3E3X2R3G2X2WX2E3N 3ZE3S3X2E3E3R3X2P2T3 E3X2X2X2E3R3X2X2E3E3 E3U3WD3P2E3I2 X2E3N3UD2X2C3X2M3E3X 2Q3

SING mountain wind thy strong superior songA
Thy haughty alpine anthem over tractsB
Whose passes and whose swift rock straitened streamsC
Catch mighty life and voice from thee and makeD
A lordly harmony on sea chafed heightsE
Sing mountain wind and take thine ancient toneF
The grand austere imperial utteranceG
Which drives my soul before it back to daysH
In one dark hour of which when Storm rode highI
Past broken hills and when the polar galeJ
Roared round the Otway with the bitter breathK
That speaks for ever of the White South LandL
Alone with God and Silence in the coldM
I heard the touching tale of Basil MossN
A story shining with a woman s loveO
And who that knows that love can ever doubtP
How dear divine sublime a thing it isQ
For while the tale of Basil Moss was oneR
Not blackened with those stark satanic sinsS
Which call for superhuman sacrificeT
Still from the records of the world s sad lifeU
This great sweet gladdening fact at length we ve learnedV
There s not a depth to which a man can fallW
No slough of crime in which such one can lieI
Stoned with the scorn and curses of his kindX
But that some tender woman can be foundY
To love and shield him stillZ
-
-
What was the fateA2
Of Basil Moss who thirty years agoB2
A brave high minded but impetuous youthC2
Left happy homesteads in the sweetest isleD2
That wears the sober light of Northern sunsE2
What happened him the man who crossed far fierceF2
Sea circles of the hoarse Atlantic whoG2
Without a friend to help him in the worldH2
Commenced his battle in this fair young landL
A Levite in the Temple BeautifulI2
Of Art who struggled hard but found that hereJ2
Both Bard and Painter learn by bitter waysH
That they are aliens in the working worldH2
And that all Heaven s templed clouds at mornK2
And sunset do not weigh one loaf of breadL2
This was his tale For years he kept himselfM2
Erect and looked his troubles in the faceN2
And grappled them and being helped at lastO2
By one who found she loved him who becameP2
The patient sharer of his lot austereQ2
He beat them bravely back but like the headsR2
Of Lerna s fabled hydra they returnedV
From day to day in numbers multipliedS2
And so it came to pass that Basil MossN
Who was though brave no mental HerculesT2
Who hid beneath a calmness forced the keenU2
Heart breaking sensibility which isQ
The awful wild specific curse that clingsV2
Forever to the Poet s twofold lifeU
Gave way at last but not before the handL
Of sickness fell upon him not beforeW2
The drooping form and sad averted eyesX2
Of hectic Hope that figure far and faintY2
Had given all his later thoughts a tongueZ2
It is too late too lateA2
-
-
There is no needA3
To tell the elders of the English worldH2
What followed this From step to step the manB3
Now fairly gripped by fierce IntemperanceX2
Descended in the social scale and thoughB2
He struggled hard at times to break awayC3
And take the old free dauntless stand againD3
He came to be as helpless as a childE3
And Darkness settled on the face of thingsX2
And Hope fell dead and Will was paralysedE3
Yet sometimes in the gloomy breaks betweenU2
Each fit of madness issuing from his sinF3
He used to wander through familiar woodsX2
With God s glad breezes blowing in his faceX2
And try to feel as he was wont to feelG3
In other years but never could he findE3
Again his old enthusiastic senseX2
Of Beauty never could he exorcizeX2
The evil spell which seemed to shackle downH3
The fine keen subtle faculty that usedE3
To see into the heart of lovelinessX2
And therefore Basil learned to shun the hauntsX2
Where Nature holds her chiefest courts becauseX2
They forced upon him in the saddest lightE3
The fact of what he was and once had beenF3
-
So fared the drunkard for five awful yearsX2
The last of which while lighting singing dellsX2
With many a flame of flowers found Basil MossX2
Cooped with his wife in one small wretched roomI3
And there one night the man when ill and weakJ3
A sufferer from his latest bout of sinF3
Moaned stricken sorely with a fourfold senseX2
Of all the degradation he had broughtE3
Upon himself and on his patient wifeU
And while he wrestled with his strong remorseX2
He looked upon a sweet but pallid faceX2
And cried My God is this the trusting girlK3
I swore to love to shield to cherish soX2
But ten years back O what a liar I amL3
She shivering in a thin and faded dressX2
Beside a handful of pale smouldering fireM3
On hearing Basil s words moved on her chairN3
And turning to him blue beseeching eyesX2
And pinched pathetic features faintly saidE3
O Basil love now that you seem to feelG3
And understand how much I ve suffered sinceX2
You first gave way now that you comprehendE3
The bitter heart wear darling that has broughtE3
The swift sad silver to this hair of mineO3
Which should have come with Age which came with PainP3
Do make one more attempt to free yourselfM2
From what is slowly killing both of usX2
And if you do the thing I ask of youG2
If you but try this once we may indeedE3
We may be happy yetE3
-
-
Then Basil MossX2
Remembering in his marvellous agonyQ3
How often he had found her in the deadE3
Of icy nights with uncomplaining eyesX2
A watcher in a cheerless room for himR3
And thinking too that often while he threwG2
His scanty earnings over reeking barsX2
The darling that he really loved through allW
Was left without enough to eat then MossX2
I say sprang to his feet with sinews setE3
And knotted brows and throat that gasped for airN3
And cried aloud My poor poor girl I willZ
And so he did and fought this time the fightE3
Out to the bitter end and with the helpS3
Of prayers and unremitting tendernessX2
He gained the victory at last but notE3
No not before the agony and sweatE3
Of fierce Gethsemanes had come to himR3
And not before the awful nightly trialsX2
When set in mental furnaces of flameP2
With eyes that ached and wooed in vain for sleepT3
He had to fight the devil holding outE3
The cup of Lethe to his fevered lipsX2
But still he conquered and the end was thisX2
That though he often had to face the eyesX2
Of that bleak Virtue which is not of ChristE3
Because the gracious Lord of Love was one with HimR3
Who blessed the dying thief upon the crossX2
He held his way with no unfaltering stepsX2
And gathered hope and light and never missedE3
To do a thing for the sake of goodE3
And every day that glided through the worldE3
Saw some fine instance of his bright reformU3
And some assurance he would never fallW
Into the pits and traps of hell againD3
And thus it came to pass that Basil s nameP2
Grew sweet with men and when he died his endE3
Was calm was evening like and beautifulI2
-
Here ends the tale of Basil Moss To wivesX2
Who suffer as the Painter s darling didE3
I dedicate these lines and hope they ll bearN3
In mind those efforts of her lovely lifeU
Which saved her husband s soul and proved that whileD2
A man who sins can entertain remorseX2
He is not wholly lost If such as theyC3
But follow her they may be sure of thisX2
That Love that sweet authentic messengerM3
From God can never fail while there is leftE3
Within the fallen one a single pulseX2
Of what the angels call humanityQ3

Henry Kendall



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