To Victor Daly Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJKLKL HGHGMNMN OPOPQHRH STSTUDUD VWVWXJXJ YZCA2B2C2B2C2 HC2HC2AD2AD2 HE2HE2DF2DF2 G2H2G2I2J2LJ2L TK2TK2OC2OC2 L2M2L2M2HOHO XN2XN2O2WO2W P2M2P2M2XQ2XQ2

I thought that silence would be bestA
But I a call have heardB
And Victor after all the restA
I well might say a wordB
The day and work is nearly doneC
And ours the victoryD
And we are resting one by oneC
In graveyards by the seaD
-
But then you talked of other nightsE
When gay from dusk to dawnF
You wasted hours with other lightsE
That went where you have goneF
You spoke not of the fair and fastG
But of the pure and trueH
Sweet ugly women of the pastG
Who stood so well by youH
-
You made a jest on that last nightI
I met it with a laughJ
You wondered which of us should writeI
The other's epitaphJ
We filled the glasses to the brimK
The land's own wine you knowL
And solemnly we drank to himK
Who should be first to goL
-
No ribald jest we were but twoH
The royst'ring days were pastG
And in our heart of hearts we knewH
That one was going fastG
We both knew who should win the raceM
Were rest or fame the prizeN
As with a quaint smile on your faceM
You looked into my eyesN
-
You talked about old struggles braveO
But in a saddened toneP
The swindles editors forgaveO
For laughter's sake aloneP
You talked of humorous distressQ
And bailiffs that you knewH
But with a touch of bitternessR
I'd never seen in youH
-
No need for tears or quick caught breathS
You sleep not in the sandT
No need for ranting song of deathS
With the death drink in our handT
No need for vain invective hurledU
At cruel destinyD
Though you seem dead to all the worldU
You are not dead to meD
-
I see you walk into the roomV
We aye remember howW
And looking back into the gloomV
You'll smile about it nowW
'Twas Victor's entry solemn styleX
With verse or paragraphJ
Though we so often saw your smileX
How many heard you laughJ
-
They dare to write about the manY
That they have never seenZ
The blustering false BohemianC
That you have never beenA2
Some with the false note in their voiceB2
And with the false tear shedC2
Who in their secret heart rejoiceB2
For one more rival deadC2
-
They miss the poems real and trueH
Where your heart's blood was shedC2
And rave of reckless things that youH
Threw out for bitter breadC2
They weep and worship while you restA
They drivel and they doteD2
But Victor we remember bestA
The things we never wroteD2
-
The things that lie between us twoH
The things I'll never tellE2
A fool I stripped my soul but youH
You wore your mask too wellE2
How strangely human all men beD
Though each one plays a partF2
You only dropped it once for meD
But then I saw your heartF2
-
A souls' match such as one might strikeG2
With or without intentH2
How strangely all men are alikeG2
With masks so differentI2
No need to drop the mask againJ2
On that last night I knowL
It chanced when we were sober menJ2
Some seven years agoL
-
They slander you fresh in the sandT
They slander me aliveK2
But when their foul souls flee the landT
Our spirits shall arriveK2
In slime and envy let them raveO
And let the worst be saidC2
A drunkard at a drunkard's graveO
A brilliant drunkard deadC2
-
Because we would not crawl to themL2
Their hands we would not shakeM2
Because their greed we would condemnL2
Their bribes we would not takeM2
Because unto the fair and trueH
Our hearts and songs we gaveO
But I forgot them when I threwH
My white flower on your graveO
-
So let us turn and with a smileX
Let those poor creatures passN2
While we the few who wait awhileX
Drink to an empty glassN2
We'll live as in the days gone byO2
To no god shall we bowW
Though Victor there are times when IO2
Feel jealous of you nowW
-
But I'll have done with solemn songsP2
Save for my country's sakeM2
It is not meet for all the wrongsP2
That any heart should breakM2
So many need to weep and smileX
Though all the rest should frownQ2
That I'd take your burden up awhileX
Where you have laid it downQ2

Henry Lawson



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