The Slave's Dream Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDB EFGFHF IBJBKB FLMLNL OPQPRP STUTVT WXYXZX A2ADAB2A| Beside the ungathered rice he lay | A |
| His sickle in his hand | B |
| His breast was bare his matted hair | C |
| Was buried in the sand | B |
| Again in the mist and shadow of sleep | D |
| He saw his Native Land | B |
| - | |
| Wide through the landscape of his dreams | E |
| The lordly Niger flowed | F |
| Beneath the palm trees on the plain | G |
| Once more a king he strode | F |
| And heard the tinkling caravans | H |
| Descend the mountain road | F |
| - | |
| He saw once more his dark eyed queen | I |
| Among her children stand | B |
| They clasped his neck they kissed his cheeks | J |
| They held him by the hand | B |
| A tear burst from the sleeper's lids | K |
| And fell into the sand | B |
| - | |
| And then at furious speed he rode | F |
| Along the Niger's bank | L |
| His bridle reins were golden chains | M |
| And with a martial clank | L |
| At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel | N |
| Smiting his stallion's flank | L |
| - | |
| Before him like a blood red flag | O |
| The bright flamingoes flew | P |
| From morn till night he followed their flight | Q |
| O'er plains where the tamarind grew | P |
| Till he saw the roofs of Caffre huts | R |
| And the ocean rose to view | P |
| - | |
| At night he heard the lion roar | S |
| And the hyena scream | T |
| And the river horse as he crushed the reeds | U |
| Beside some hidden stream | T |
| And it passed like a glorious roll of drums | V |
| Through the triumph of his dream | T |
| - | |
| The forests with their myriad tongues | W |
| Shouted of liberty | X |
| And the Blast of the Desert cried aloud | Y |
| With a voice so wild and free | X |
| That he started in his sleep and smiled | Z |
| At their tempestuous glee | X |
| - | |
| He did not feel the driver's whip | A2 |
| Nor the burning heat of day | A |
| For Death had illumined the Land of Sleep | D |
| And his lifeless body lay | A |
| A worn out fetter that the soul | B2 |
| Had broken and thrown away | A |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(1)
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