The Hanging Of The Crane Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABCDB EFGGEF HIIH J KKILLI MMNNMNN OOKPPKK J QQORRO SBQTQQTRR UUVVNWWNXXYXZZYA2B2B 2KKA2 C2 UUOA2A2O D2E2E2D2F2G2G2H2I2H2 J2J2A2K2K2A2KL2L2L2K K OOA2E2E2A2 E2AM2M2AN2N2O2O2AA2A 2KD2A2P2P2P2A2P2BA2B A2 O2 Q2Q2KP2P2K R2P2P2R2SBP2A2A2P2D2 D2A2S2S2A2A2A2A2A2A2 T2A2BA2BT2 O2 BSA2U2U2A2 D2D2A2A2A2A2D2D2D2D2 D2D2MM2M2TTM A2A2A2OOA2A2A2P2A2A2 P2The lights are out and gone are all the guests | A |
That thronging came with merriment and jests | A |
To celebrate the Hanging of the Crane | B |
In the new house into the night are gone | C |
But still the fire upon the hearth burns on | D |
And I alone remain | B |
- | |
O fortunate O happy day | E |
When a new household finds its place | F |
Among the myriad homes of earth | G |
Like a new star just sprung to birth | G |
And rolled on its harmonious way | E |
Into the boundless realms of space | F |
- | |
So said the guests in speech and song | H |
As in the chimney burning bright | I |
We hung the iron crane to night | I |
And merry was the feast and long | H |
- | |
II | J |
- | |
And now I sit and muse on what may be | K |
And in my vision see or seem to see | K |
Through floating vapors interfused with light | I |
Shapes indeterminate that gleam and fade | L |
As shadows passing into deeper shade | L |
Sink and elude the sight | I |
- | |
For two alone there in the hall | M |
As spread the table round and small | M |
Upon the polished silver shine | N |
The evening lamps but more divine | N |
The light of love shines over all | M |
Of love that says not mine and thine | N |
But ours for ours is thine and mine | N |
- | |
They want no guests to come between | O |
Their tender glances like a screen | O |
And tell them tales of land and sea | K |
And whatsoever may betide | P |
The great forgotten world outside | P |
They want no guests they needs must be | K |
Each other's own best company | K |
- | |
III | J |
- | |
The picture fades as at a village fair | Q |
A showman's views dissolving into air | Q |
Again appear transfigured on the screen | O |
So in my fancy this and now once more | R |
In part transfigured through the open door | R |
Appears the selfsame scene | O |
- | |
Seated I see the two again | S |
But not alone they entertain | B |
A little angel unaware | Q |
With face as round as is the moon | T |
A royal guest with flaxen hair | Q |
Who throned upon his lofty chair | Q |
Drums on the table with his spoon | T |
Then drops it careless on the floor | R |
To grasp at things unseen before | R |
- | |
- | |
Are these celestial manners these | U |
The ways that win the arts that please | U |
Ah yes consider well the guest | V |
And whatsoe'er he does seems best | V |
He ruleth by the right divine | N |
Of helplessness so lately born | W |
In purple chambers of the morn | W |
As sovereign over thee and thine | N |
He speaketh not and yet there lies | X |
A conversation in his eyes | X |
The golden silence of the Greek | Y |
The gravest wisdom of the wise | X |
Not spoken in language but in looks | Z |
More legible than printed books | Z |
As if he could but would not speak | Y |
And now O monarch absolute | A2 |
Thy power is put to proof for lo | B2 |
Resistless fathomless and slow | B2 |
The nurse comes rustling like the sea | K |
And pushes back thy chair and thee | K |
And so good night to King Canute | A2 |
- | |
IV | C2 |
- | |
As one who walking in a forest sees | U |
A lovely landscape through the parted frees | U |
Then sees it not for boughs that intervene | O |
Or as we see the moon sometimes revealed | A2 |
Through drifting clouds and then again concealed | A2 |
So I behold the scene | O |
- | |
There are two guests at table now | D2 |
The king deposed and older grown | E2 |
No longer occupies the throne | E2 |
The crown is on his sister's brow | D2 |
A Princess from the Fairy Isles | F2 |
The very pattern girl of girls | G2 |
All covered and embowered in curls | G2 |
Rose tinted from the Isle of Flowers | H2 |
And sailing with soft silken sails | I2 |
From far off Dreamland into ours | H2 |
Above their bowls with rims of blue | J2 |
Four azure eyes of deeper hue | J2 |
Are looking dreamy with delight | A2 |
Limpid as planets that emerge | K2 |
Above the ocean's rounded verge | K2 |
Soft shining through the summer night | A2 |
Steadfast they gaze yet nothing see | K |
Beyond the horizon of their bowls | L2 |
Nor care they for the world that rolls | L2 |
With all its freight of troubled souls | L2 |
Into the days that are to be | K |
- | |
V | K |
- | |
Again the tossing boughs shut out the scene | O |
Again the drifting vapors intervene | O |
And the moon's pallid disk is hidden quite | A2 |
And now I see the table wider grown | E2 |
As round a pebble into water thrown | E2 |
Dilates a ring of light | A2 |
- | |
I see the table wider grown | E2 |
I see it garlanded with guests | A |
As if fair Ariadne's Crown | M2 |
Out of the sky had fallen down | M2 |
Maidens within whose tender breasts | A |
A thousand restless hopes and fears | N2 |
Forth reaching to the coming years | N2 |
Flutter awhile then quiet lie | O2 |
Like timid birds that fain would fly | O2 |
But do not dare to leave their nests | A |
And youths who in their strength elate | A2 |
Challenge the van and front of fate | A2 |
Eager as champions to be | K |
In the divine knight errantry | D2 |
Of youth that travels sea and land | A2 |
Seeking adventures or pursues | P2 |
Through cities and through solitudes | P2 |
Frequented by the lyric Muse | P2 |
The phantom with the beckoning hand | A2 |
That still allures and still eludes | P2 |
O sweet illusions of the brain | B |
O sudden thrills of fire and frost | A2 |
The world is bright while ye remain | B |
And dark and dead when ye are lost | A2 |
- | |
VI | O2 |
- | |
The meadow brook that seemeth to stand still | Q2 |
Quickens its current as it nears the mill | Q2 |
And so the stream of Time that lingereth | K |
In level places and so dull appears | P2 |
Runs with a swifter current as it nears | P2 |
The gloomy mills of Death | K |
- | |
And now like the magician's scroll | R2 |
That in the owner's keeping shrinks | P2 |
With every wish he speaks or thinks | P2 |
Till the last wish consumes the whole | R2 |
The table dwindles and again | S |
I see the two alone remain | B |
The crown of stars is broken in parts | P2 |
Its jewels brighter than the day | A2 |
Have one by one been stolen away | A2 |
To shine in other homes and hearts | P2 |
One is a wanderer now afar | D2 |
In Ceylon or in Zanzibar | D2 |
Or sunny regions of Cathay | A2 |
And one is in the boisterous camp | S2 |
Mid clink of arms and horses' tramp | S2 |
And battle's terrible array | A2 |
I see the patient mother read | A2 |
With aching heart of wrecks that float | A2 |
Disabled on those seas remote | A2 |
Or of some great heroic deed | A2 |
On battle fie ds where thousands bleed | A2 |
To lift one hero into fame | T2 |
Anxious she bends her graceful head | A2 |
Above these chronicles of pain | B |
And trembles with a secret dread | A2 |
Lest there among the drowned or slain | B |
She find the one beloved name | T2 |
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VII | O2 |
- | |
After a day of cloud and wind and rain | B |
Sometimes the setting sun breaks out again | S |
And touching all the darksome woods with light | A2 |
Smiles on the fields until they laugh and sing | U2 |
Then like a ruby from the horizon's ring | U2 |
Drops down into the night | A2 |
- | |
What see I now The night is fair | D2 |
The storm of grief the clouds of care | D2 |
The wind the rain have passed away | A2 |
The lamps are lit the fires burn bright | A2 |
The house is full of life and light | A2 |
It is the Golden Wedding day | A2 |
The guests come thronging in once more | D2 |
Quick footsteps sound along the floor | D2 |
The trooping children crowd the stair | D2 |
And in and out and everywhere | D2 |
Flashes along the corridor | D2 |
The sunshine of their golden hair | D2 |
On the round table in the hall | M |
Another Ariadne's Crown | M2 |
Out of the sky hath fallen down | M2 |
More than one Monarch of the Moon | T |
Is drumming with his silver spoon | T |
The light of love shines over all | M |
- | |
O fortunate O happy day | A2 |
The people sing the people say | A2 |
The ancient bridegroom and the bride | A2 |
Smiling contented and serene | O |
Upon the blithe bewildering scene | O |
Behold well pleased on every side | A2 |
Their forms and features multiplied | A2 |
As the reflection of a light | A2 |
Between two burnished mirrors gleams | P2 |
Or lamps upon a bridge at night | A2 |
Stretch on and on before the sight | A2 |
Till the long vista endless seems | P2 |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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