Seringapatam Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDED FGFGHIJI KLKLMNON PQPQRSTS UVUVWXYX ZCZCA2B2C2B2 FD2FD2E2F2GF2 G2H2G2H2I2EJ2E ABABF2K2L2K2

The sleep that Tippoo Sahib sleepsA
Heeds not the cry of manB
The faith that Tippoo Sahib keepsA
No judge on earth may scanB
He is the lord of whom ye holdC
Spirit and sense and limbD
Fetter and chain are all ye gainE
Who dared to plead with himD
-
Baird was bonny and Baird was youngF
His heart was strong as steelG
But life and death in the balance hungF
For his wounds were ill to healG
Of fifty chains the Sultan gaveH
We have filled but forty nineI
We dare not fail of the perfect taleJ
For all Golconda's mineI
-
That was the hour when Lucas firstK
Leapt to his long renownL
Like summer rains his anger burstK
And swept their scruples downL
Tell ye the lord to whom ye crouchM
His fetters bite their fillN
To save your oath I'll wear them bothO
And step the lighter stillN
-
The seasons came the seasons passedP
They watched their fellows dieQ
But still their thought was forward castP
Their courage still was highQ
Through tortured days and fevered nightsR
Their limbs alone were weakS
And year by year they kept their cheerT
And spoke as freemen speakS
-
But once a year on the fourth of JuneU
Their speech to silence diedV
And the silence beat to a soundless tuneU
And sang with a wordless prideV
Till when the Indian stars were brightW
And bells at home would ringX
To the fetters' clank they rose and drankY
England God save the KingX
-
The years came and the years wentZ
The wheel full circle rolledC
The tyrant's neck must yet be bentZ
The price of blood be toldC
The city yet must hear the roarA2
Of Baird's avenging gunsB2
And see him stand with lifted handC2
By Tippoo Sahib's sonsB2
-
The lads were bonny the lads were youngF
But he claimed a pitiless debtD2
Life and death in the balance hungF
They watched it swing and setD2
They saw him search with sombre eyesE2
They knew the place he soughtF2
They saw him feel for the hilted steelG
They bowed before his thoughtF2
-
But he he saw the prison thereG2
In the old quivering heatH2
Where merry hearts had met despairG2
And died without defeatH2
Where feeble hands had raised the cupI2
For feebler lips to drainE
And one had worn with smiling scornJ2
His double load of painE
-
The sleep that Tippoo Sahib sleepsA
Hears not the voice of manB
The faith that Tippoo Sahib keepsA
No earthly judge may scanB
For all the wrong your father wroughtF2
Your father's sons are freeK2
Where Lucas lay no tongue shall sayL2
That Mercy bound not meK2

Henry Newbolt



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