Manasseh Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST UVWXYZA2B2C2D2E2F2G2 H2A2LI2J2K2CL2HA2M2W N2K2O2P2Q2 R2S2T2HXWU2S2LV2W2X2 Y2I Z2S2A3B3C3D3S2S2I2I2 S2E3F3G3S2M2H3I3J3G3 K3L3M3 N3S2H3HS2O3A2P3S2S2 A2Q3S2L3R3FK3D3 S3QT3U3V3Q3S2S2W3AAX 3Q3Y3L3S2S2J2Z3A4B4C 4Manasseh lord of Judah and the son | A |
Of him who favoured of Jehovah saw | B |
At midnight when the skies were flushed with fire | C |
The splendid mystery of the shining air | D |
That flamed above the black Assyrian camps | E |
And breathed upon the evil hosts at rest | F |
And shed swift violent sleep into their eyes | G |
Manasseh lord of Judah when he came | H |
To fortify himself upon his throne | I |
And saw great strength was gathered unto him | J |
Let slip satanic passions he had nursed | K |
For years and years and lo the land that He | L |
Who thundered on the Oriental Mount | M |
Girt round with awful light had set apart | N |
For Jacob s seed the land that Moses strained | O |
On Nebo s topmost cone to see grew black | P |
Beneath the shadow of despotic Sin | Q |
That stalked on foot ways dashed with human blood | R |
And mocked high Heaven by audacious fires | S |
And as when Storm that voice of God is loud | T |
Within the mountained Syrian wilderness | U |
There flits a wailing through the wilted pines | V |
So in the city of the wicked king | W |
A voice like Abel s crying from the ground | X |
Made sorrow of the broken evening winds | Y |
And darkness of the fair young morning lights | Z |
And silence in the homes of hunted men | A2 |
But in a time when grey winged Autumn fogs | B2 |
Shut off the sun from Carmel s seaward side | C2 |
And fitful gusts did speak within the trees | D2 |
Of rain beyond the waters while the priests | E2 |
In Hinnom s echoing valley offered up | F2 |
Unhallowed sacrifices unto gods | G2 |
Of brass and stone there came a trumpet s voice | H2 |
Along the bald bleak northern flats and then | A2 |
A harnessed horseman riding furiously | L |
Dashed down the ridge with an exceeding cry | I2 |
Of Esarhaddon Esarhaddon haste | J2 |
Away ye elders lo the swarthy foe | K2 |
Six leagues from hence hath made the land a fire | C |
And all the dwellers of the hollowed hills | L2 |
Are flying hitherwards before a flame | H |
Of fifty thousand swords At this the men | A2 |
Of Baal turned about set face and fled | M2 |
Towards the thickets where the impious king | W |
Ringed round by grey gaunt wizards with the brand | N2 |
Of Belial on their features cowered low | K2 |
And hid himself amongst the tangled thorns | O2 |
And shivered in a bitter seaborn wind | P2 |
And caught the whiteness of a deathly fear | Q2 |
- | |
There where the ash pale forest leaves were touched | R2 |
By Morning s shining fingers and the inland depths | S2 |
Sent out rain plenished voices west and south | T2 |
The steel clad scouts of Esarhaddon came | H |
And searched and found Manasseh whom they bound | X |
And dragged before the swart Assyrian king | W |
And Esarhaddon scourge of Heaven sent | U2 |
To strange Evil at its chiefest fanes | S2 |
And so fulfil a dread divine decree | L |
Took Judah s despot fettered hand and foot | V2 |
And cast him bleeding on a dungeon floor | W2 |
Hard by where swift Euphrates chafes his brink | X2 |
And gleams from cataract to cataract | Y2 |
And gives the gale a deep midwinter tone | I |
- | |
So fared Manasseh for the sins which brought | Z2 |
Pale featured Desolation to the tents | S2 |
Of alienated Judah but one night | A3 |
When ninety moons of wild unrest had passed | B3 |
The humbled son of Hezekiah turned | C3 |
Himself towards the wall and prayed and wept | D3 |
And in an awful darkness face to face | S2 |
With God he said I know O Lord of Hosts | S2 |
That Thou art wise and just and kind and I | I2 |
Am shapen in iniquity but by | I2 |
The years of black captivity whose days | S2 |
And nights have marked my spirit passing through | E3 |
Fierce furnaces of suffering and seen | F3 |
It groping in blind shadows with a hope | G3 |
To reach Thy Hand by these O Father these | S2 |
That brought the swift sad silver to my head | M2 |
Which should have come with Age which came with Pain | H3 |
I pray Thee hear these supplications now | I3 |
And stoop and lift me from my low estate | J3 |
And lend me this once my dominionship | G3 |
So I may strive to live the bad Past down | K3 |
And lead henceforth a white and wholesome life | L3 |
And be thy contrite servant Lord indeed | M3 |
- | |
The prayer was not in vain for while the storm | N3 |
Sang high above the dim Chaldean domes | S2 |
While in the pines the spirit of the rain | H3 |
Sobbed fitfully Jehovah s angel came | H |
And made a splendour of the dungeon walls | S2 |
And smote the bars and led Manasseh forth | O3 |
And caught him up nor set him down again | A2 |
Until the turrets of Jerusalem | P3 |
Sprang white before the flying travellers | S2 |
Against the congregated morning hills | S2 |
- | |
And he the broken man made whole again | A2 |
Was faithful to his promise Every day | Q3 |
Thereafter passing bore upon its wings | S2 |
Some shining record of his faultless life | L3 |
Some brightness of a high resolve fulfilled | R3 |
And in good time when all the land had rest | F |
He found that he had lived the bad Past down | K3 |
And gave God praise and with his fathers slept | D3 |
- | |
Thus ends the story of Manasseh If | S3 |
This verse should catch the eyes of one whose sin | Q |
Lies heavy on his soul who finds himself | T3 |
A shame faced alien when he walks abroad | U3 |
A moping shadow when he sits at home | V3 |
Who has no human friends who day by day | Q3 |
Is smitten down by icy level looks | S2 |
From that cold Virtue which is merciless | S2 |
Because it knoweth not what wrestling with | W3 |
A fierce temptation means if such a one | A |
Should read my tale of Hezekiah s son | A |
Let him take heart and gather up his strength | X3 |
And step above men s scorn and find his way | Q3 |
By paths of fire as brave Manasseh did | Y3 |
Up to the white heights of a blameless life | L3 |
And it will come to pass that in the face | S2 |
Of grey old enmities whose partial eyes | S2 |
Are blind to reformation he will taste | J2 |
A sweetness in his thoughts and live his time | Z3 |
Arrayed with the efficient armour of | A4 |
That noble power which grows of self respect | B4 |
And makes a man a pillar in the world | C4 |
Henry Kendall
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