Queen Hilda Of Virland Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDCECFC GHCHIJIJ KLMLNONO APANQKQ RSKTUVKV WXYXZEZE A2VKVB2C2D2C2 URE2RWF2KF2 KIYIKG2KH2 I2NJ2NK2B2KB2 H2KH2KL2M2L2M2 N2O2N2P2H2KH2K KQ2KQ2E2R2E2N2 AKEDES2RT2R U2LF2LA2H2V2H2 W2E2X2E2W2RNR Y2H2Z2H2H2V2W2U2 A3B3A3B3A3H2NH2 A3KKKKKA3K H2A3C3A3A3H2A3H2| PART I | A |
| Queen Hilda rode along the lines | B |
| And she was young and fair | C |
| And forward on her shoulders fell | D |
| The heavy braids of hair | C |
| No gold was ever dug from earth | E |
| Like that burnished there | C |
| No sky so blue as were her eyes | F |
| Had man seen anywhere | C |
| - | |
| 'Twas so her gay court poets sang | G |
| And we believed it true | H |
| But men must fight for golden hair | C |
| And die for eyes of blue | H |
| Cheer after cheer the long half mile | I |
| It has been ever thus | J |
| And evermore her winsome smile | I |
| She turned and turned on us | J |
| - | |
| The Spring burst over wood and sea | K |
| The day was warm and bright | L |
| Young Clarence stood on my left hand | M |
| Old Withen on the right | L |
| With fifteen thousand men or more | N |
| With plumes and banners gay | O |
| To sail that day to foreign war | N |
| And our ships swarmed on the bay | O |
| - | |
| Old Withen muttered in his beard I listened with a sigh | A |
| Good Faith for such a chit as that | P |
| Strong men must kill and die | A |
| She'll back to her embroideree | N |
| And fools that bow and smirk | Q |
| And we must sail across the sea | K |
| And go to other work | Q |
| - | |
| And wherefore Wherefore Withen said | R |
| Is this red quarrel sought | S |
| Because of clacking painted hags | K |
| And foreign fops at Court | T |
| Because 'tis said a drunken king | U |
| In lands we've never seen | V |
| Said something foolish in his cups | K |
| Of our young silly queen | V |
| - | |
| Good faith in her old great aunt's time | W |
| 'Twere different I vow | X |
| If old Dame Ruth were here she'd get | Y |
| Some sharp advising now | X |
| At this a grim smile went about | Z |
| For men could say in sooth | E |
| That none who'd seen her face could doubt | Z |
| The fair fame of Dame Ruth | E |
| - | |
| If Clarence heard he said no word | A2 |
| His soul was fresh and clean | V |
| The glory in his boyish eyes | K |
| Was shining for his Queen | V |
| And as she passed he gazed as one | B2 |
| An angel might regard | C2 |
| Old Withen looked as if he'd like | D2 |
| To take and smack her hard | C2 |
| - | |
| We only smiled at anything | U |
| That good old Withen said | R |
| For he half blind through smoke and flame | E2 |
| Had borne her grandsire dead | R |
| And he in Virland's danger time | W |
| Where both her brothers died | F2 |
| Had ridden to red victory | K |
| By her brave father's side | F2 |
| - | |
| Queen Hilda rode along the lines | K |
| 'Mid thundering cheers the while | I |
| And each man sought and seemed to get | Y |
| Her proud and happy smile | I |
| Queen Hilda little dreamed Ah me | K |
| On what dark miry plain | G2 |
| And what blood blinded eyes would see | K |
| Her girlish smile again | H2 |
| - | |
| Queen Hilda rode on through the crowd | I2 |
| We heard the distant roar | N |
| We heard the clack of gear and plank | J2 |
| The sailors on the shore | N |
| Queen Hilda sought her bower to rest | K2 |
| For her day's work was done | B2 |
| We kissed our wives or others' wives | K |
| And sailed ere set of sun | B2 |
| - | |
| Some sail because they're married men | H2 |
| And some because they're free | K |
| To come or not come back agen | H2 |
| And such of old were we | K |
| Some sail for fame and some for loot | L2 |
| And some for love or lust | M2 |
| And some to fish and some to shoot | L2 |
| And some because they must | M2 |
| - | |
| Some sail who know not why they roam | N2 |
| When they are come aboard | O2 |
| And some for wives and loves at home | N2 |
| And some for those abroad | P2 |
| Some sail because the path is plain | H2 |
| And some because they choose | K |
| And some with nothing left to gain | H2 |
| And nothing left to lose | K |
| - | |
| And we have sailed from Virland we | K |
| For a woman's right or wrong | Q2 |
| And we are One and One and Three | K |
| And Fifteen Thousand strong | Q2 |
| For Right or Wrong and Virland's fame | E2 |
| You dared us and we come | R2 |
| To write in blood a woman's name | E2 |
| And take a letter home | N2 |
| - | |
| PART II | A |
| King Death came riding down the lines | K |
| And broken lines were they | E |
| With scarce a soldier who could tell | D |
| Where friend or foeman lay | E |
| The storm cloud looming over all | S2 |
| Save where the west was red | R |
| And on the field of friend and foe | T2 |
| Ten thousand men lay dead | R |
| - | |
| Boy Clarence lay in slush and blood | U2 |
| With his face deathly white | L |
| Old Withen lay by his left side | F2 |
| And I knelt at his right | L |
| And Clarence ever whispered | A2 |
| Though with dying eyes serene | H2 |
| I loved her for her girlhood | V2 |
| Will someone tell the Queen | H2 |
| - | |
| And this old Withen's message | W2 |
| When his time shortly came | E2 |
| I loved her for her father's sake | X2 |
| But I fought for Virland's fame | E2 |
| Go take you this a message | W2 |
| From me Old Withen said | R |
| Who knelt beside her father | N |
| And his when they were dead | R |
| - | |
| I who in sport or council | Y2 |
| I who as boy and man | H2 |
| Would aye speak plainly to them | Z2 |
| Were it Court or battle's van | H2 |
| Nay fear not she will listen | H2 |
| And my words be understood | V2 |
| And she will heed my message | W2 |
| For I know her father's blood | U2 |
| - | |
| If shame there was I judge not | A3 |
| As I'd not be judged above | B3 |
| The Royal blood of Virland | A3 |
| Was ever hot to love | B3 |
| Or fight the slander's wiped out | A3 |
| As witness here the slain | H2 |
| But if shame there was then tell her | N |
| Let it not be again | H2 |
| - | |
| At home once more in Virland | A3 |
| The glorious Spring burst shines | K |
| Queen Hilda rides right proudly | K |
| Down our victorious lines | K |
| The gaps were filled with striplings | K |
| And Hilda wears a rose | K |
| And what the wrong or right of it | A3 |
| Queen Hilda only knows | K |
| - | |
| But be it state or nation | H2 |
| Or castle town or shed | A3 |
| Or be she wife or monarch | C3 |
| Or widowed or unwed | A3 |
| Now this is for your comfort | A3 |
| And it has ever been | H2 |
| That wrong or right a man must fight | A3 |
| For his country and his queen | H2 |
Henry Lawson
(1)
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