The Good Samaritan Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABACDEDFGHGHIJIJ KLKLMNON PQPQRSTS UVUWXYXY ZA2ZA2B2A2B2A2 CC2BC2D2AD2A E2F2E2F2D2G2D2G2 HH2HH2NI2NI2 BJ2CJ2K2L2K2L2 M2N2M2N2PO2PO2 K2A2DA2P2Q2R2S2 A2T2A2P2U2JV2J W2IW2IS2BS2C CHBHX2Y2X2Y2Z2A3Z2A3 E2B3E2B3 C3Q2C3S2BCBBHe comes from out the ages dim | A |
The good Samaritan | B |
I somehow never pictured him | A |
A fat and jolly man | C |
But one who d little joy to glean | D |
And little coin to give | E |
A sad faced man and lank and lean | D |
Who found it hard to live | F |
His eyes were haggard in the drought | G |
His hair was iron grey | H |
His dusty gown was patched no doubt | G |
Where we patch pants to day | H |
His faded turban too was torn | I |
But darned and folded neat | J |
And leagues of desert sand had worn | I |
The sandals on his feet | J |
- | |
He s been a fool perhaps and would | K |
Have prospered had he tried | L |
But he was one who never could | K |
Pass by the other side | L |
An honest man whom men called soft | M |
While laughing in their sleeves | N |
No doubt in business ways he oft | O |
Had fallen amongst thieves | N |
- | |
And I suppose by track and tent | P |
And other ancient ways | Q |
He drank and fought and loved and went | P |
The pace in his young days | Q |
And he had known the bitter year | R |
When love and friendship fail | S |
I wouldn t be surprised to hear | T |
That he had been in jail | S |
- | |
A silent man whose passions slept | U |
Who had no friends or foes | V |
A quiet man who always kept | U |
His hopes and sorrows close | W |
A man who very seldom smiled | X |
And one who could not weep | Y |
Be it for death of wife or child | X |
Or sorrow still more deep | Y |
- | |
But sometimes when a man would rave | Z |
Of wrong as sinners do | A2 |
He d say to cheer and make him brave | Z |
I ve had my troubles too | A2 |
They might be twittered by the birds | B2 |
And breathed high Heaven through | A2 |
There s beauty in those world old words | B2 |
I ve had my sorrows too | A2 |
- | |
And if he was a married man | C |
As many are that roam | C2 |
I guess that good Samaritan | B |
Was rather glum at home | C2 |
Impatient when a child would fret | D2 |
And strict at times and grim | A |
A man whose kinsmen never yet | D2 |
Appreciated him | A |
- | |
Howbeit in a study brown | E2 |
He had for all we know | F2 |
His own thoughts as he journeyed down | E2 |
The road to Jericho | F2 |
And pondered as we puzzle yet | D2 |
On tragedies of life | G2 |
And maybe he was deep in debt | D2 |
And parted from his wife | G2 |
- | |
And so by chance there came that way | H |
It reads not like romance | H2 |
The truest friends on earth to day | H |
They mostly come by chance | H2 |
He saw a stranger left by thieves | N |
Sore hurt and like to die | I2 |
He also saw my heart believes | N |
The others pass him by | I2 |
- | |
Perhaps that good Samaritan | B |
Knew Levite well and priest | J2 |
He lifted up the wounded man | C |
And sat him on his beast | J2 |
And took him on towards the inn | K2 |
All Christ like unawares | L2 |
Still pondering perhaps on sin | K2 |
And virtue and his cares | L2 |
- | |
He bore him in and fixed him right | M2 |
Helped by the local drunk | N2 |
And wined and oiled him well all night | M2 |
And thought beside his bunk | N2 |
And on the morrow ere he went | P |
He left a quid and spoke | O2 |
Unto the host in terms which meant | P |
Look after that poor bloke | O2 |
- | |
He must have known them at the inn | K2 |
They must have known him too | A2 |
Perhaps on that same track he d seen | D |
Some other sick mate through | A2 |
For Whatsoe er thou spendest more | P2 |
The parable is plain | Q2 |
I will repay he told the host | R2 |
When I return again | S2 |
- | |
He seemed to be a good sort too | A2 |
The boss of that old pub | T2 |
As even now there are a few | A2 |
At shanties in the scru | P2 |
The good Samaritan jogged on | U2 |
Through Canaan s dust and heat | J |
And pondered over various schemes | V2 |
And ways to make ends meet | J |
- | |
- | |
He was no Christian understand | W2 |
For Christ had not been born | I |
He journeyed later through the land | W2 |
To hold the priests to scorn | I |
And tell the world of certain men | S2 |
Like that Samaritan | B |
And preach the simple creed again | S2 |
Man s duty Man to man | C |
- | |
- | |
Once on a time there lived a man | C |
But he has lived alway | H |
And that gaunt good Samaritan | B |
Is with us here to day | H |
He passes through the city streets | X2 |
Unnoticed and unknown | Y2 |
He helps the sinner that he meets | X2 |
His sorrows are his own | Y2 |
He shares his tucker on the track | Z2 |
When things are at their worst | A3 |
And often shouts in bars outback | Z2 |
For souls that are athirst | A3 |
To day I see him staggering down | E2 |
The blazing water course | B3 |
And making for the distant town | E2 |
With a sick man on his horse | B3 |
- | |
He ll live while nations find their graves | C3 |
And mortals suffer pain | Q2 |
When colour rules and whites are slaves | C3 |
And savages again | S2 |
And after all is past and done | B |
He ll rise up the Last Man | C |
From tending to the last but one | B |
The good Samaritan | B |
Henry Lawson
(1)
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