To Victor Daly Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJKLKL HGHGMNMN OPOPQHRH STSTUDUD VWVWXJXJ YZCA2B2C2B2C2 HC2HC2AD2AD2 HE2HE2DF2DF2 G2H2G2I2J2LJ2L TK2TK2OC2OC2 L2M2L2M2HOHO XN2XN2O2WO2W P2M2P2M2XQ2XQ2I thought that silence would be best | A |
But I a call have heard | B |
And Victor after all the rest | A |
I well might say a word | B |
The day and work is nearly done | C |
And ours the victory | D |
And we are resting one by one | C |
In graveyards by the sea | D |
- | |
But then you talked of other nights | E |
When gay from dusk to dawn | F |
You wasted hours with other lights | E |
That went where you have gone | F |
You spoke not of the fair and fast | G |
But of the pure and true | H |
Sweet ugly women of the past | G |
Who stood so well by you | H |
- | |
You made a jest on that last night | I |
I met it with a laugh | J |
You wondered which of us should write | I |
The other's epitaph | J |
We filled the glasses to the brim | K |
The land's own wine you know | L |
And solemnly we drank to him | K |
Who should be first to go | L |
- | |
No ribald jest we were but two | H |
The royst'ring days were past | G |
And in our heart of hearts we knew | H |
That one was going fast | G |
We both knew who should win the race | M |
Were rest or fame the prize | N |
As with a quaint smile on your face | M |
You looked into my eyes | N |
- | |
You talked about old struggles brave | O |
But in a saddened tone | P |
The swindles editors forgave | O |
For laughter's sake alone | P |
You talked of humorous distress | Q |
And bailiffs that you knew | H |
But with a touch of bitterness | R |
I'd never seen in you | H |
- | |
No need for tears or quick caught breath | S |
You sleep not in the sand | T |
No need for ranting song of death | S |
With the death drink in our hand | T |
No need for vain invective hurled | U |
At cruel destiny | D |
Though you seem dead to all the world | U |
You are not dead to me | D |
- | |
I see you walk into the room | V |
We aye remember how | W |
And looking back into the gloom | V |
You'll smile about it now | W |
'Twas Victor's entry solemn style | X |
With verse or paragraph | J |
Though we so often saw your smile | X |
How many heard you laugh | J |
- | |
They dare to write about the man | Y |
That they have never seen | Z |
The blustering false Bohemian | C |
That you have never been | A2 |
Some with the false note in their voice | B2 |
And with the false tear shed | C2 |
Who in their secret heart rejoice | B2 |
For one more rival dead | C2 |
- | |
They miss the poems real and true | H |
Where your heart's blood was shed | C2 |
And rave of reckless things that you | H |
Threw out for bitter bread | C2 |
They weep and worship while you rest | A |
They drivel and they dote | D2 |
But Victor we remember best | A |
The things we never wrote | D2 |
- | |
The things that lie between us two | H |
The things I'll never tell | E2 |
A fool I stripped my soul but you | H |
You wore your mask too well | E2 |
How strangely human all men be | D |
Though each one plays a part | F2 |
You only dropped it once for me | D |
But then I saw your heart | F2 |
- | |
A souls' match such as one might strike | G2 |
With or without intent | H2 |
How strangely all men are alike | G2 |
With masks so different | I2 |
No need to drop the mask again | J2 |
On that last night I know | L |
It chanced when we were sober men | J2 |
Some seven years ago | L |
- | |
They slander you fresh in the sand | T |
They slander me alive | K2 |
But when their foul souls flee the land | T |
Our spirits shall arrive | K2 |
In slime and envy let them rave | O |
And let the worst be said | C2 |
A drunkard at a drunkard's grave | O |
A brilliant drunkard dead | C2 |
- | |
Because we would not crawl to them | L2 |
Their hands we would not shake | M2 |
Because their greed we would condemn | L2 |
Their bribes we would not take | M2 |
Because unto the fair and true | H |
Our hearts and songs we gave | O |
But I forgot them when I threw | H |
My white flower on your grave | O |
- | |
So let us turn and with a smile | X |
Let those poor creatures pass | N2 |
While we the few who wait awhile | X |
Drink to an empty glass | N2 |
We'll live as in the days gone by | O2 |
To no god shall we bow | W |
Though Victor there are times when I | O2 |
Feel jealous of you now | W |
- | |
But I'll have done with solemn songs | P2 |
Save for my country's sake | M2 |
It is not meet for all the wrongs | P2 |
That any heart should break | M2 |
So many need to weep and smile | X |
Though all the rest should frown | Q2 |
That I'd take your burden up awhile | X |
Where you have laid it down | Q2 |
Henry Lawson
(1)
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