The Student's Tale - The Wayside Inn - Part Third Poem Rhyme Scheme

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Student's Tale - The Wayside Inn - Part Third Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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EMMA AND EGINHARD	A
	-
When Alcuin taught the sons of Charlemagne	B
In the free schools of Aix how kings should reign	B
And with them taught the children of the poor	C
How subjects should be patient and endure	D
He touched the lips of some as best befit	A
With honey from the hives of Holy Writ	A
Others intoxicated with the wine	E
Of ancient history sweet but less divine	E
Some with the wholesome fruits of grammar fed	A
Others with mysteries of the stars o'er head	A
That hang suspended in the vaulted sky	F
Like lamps in some fair palace vast and high	F
	-
In sooth it was a pleasant sight to see	G
That Saxon monk with hood and rosary	G
With inkhorn at his belt and pen and book	H
And mingled lore and reverence in his look	H
Or hear the cloister and the court repeat	A
The measured footfalls of his sandaled feet	A
Or watch him with the pupils of his school	I
Gentle of speech but absolute of rule	I
	-
Among them always earliest in his place	J
Was Eginhard a youth of Frankish race	J
Whose face was bright with flashes that forerun	E
The splendors of a yet unrisen sun	E
To him all things were possible and seemed	A
Not what he had accomplished but had dreamed	A
And what were tasks to others were his play	K
The pastime of an idle holiday	K
	-
Smaragdo Abbot of St Michael's said	A
With many a shrug and shaking of the head	A
Surely some demon must possess the lad	A
Who showed more wit than ever schoolboy had	A
And learned his Trivium thus without the rod	A
But Alcuin said it was the grace of God	A
	-
Thus he grew up in Logic point device	L
Perfect in Grammar and in Rhetoric nice	L
Science of Numbers Geometric art	A
And lore of Stars and Music knew by heart	A
A Minnesinger long before the times	M
Of those who sang their love in Suabian rhymes	M
	-
The Emperor when he heard this good report	A
Of Eginhard much buzzed about the court	A
Said to himself This stripling seems to be	G
Purposely sent into the world for me	G
He shall become my scribe and shall be schooled	A
In all the arts whereby the world is ruled	A
Thus did the gentle Eginhard attain	E
To honor in the court of Charlemagne	E
Became the sovereign's favorite his right hand	A
So that his fame was great in all the land	A
And all men loved him for his modest grace	J
And comeliness of figure and of face	J
An inmate of the palace yet recluse	N
A man of books yet sacred from abuse	N
Among the armed knights with spur on heel	O
The tramp of horses and the clang of steel	O
And as the Emperor promised he was schooled	A
In all the arts by which the world is ruled	A
But the one art supreme whose law is fate	A
The Emperor never dreamed of till too late	A
	-
Home from her convent to the palace came	P
The lovely Princess Emma whose sweet name	P
Whispered by seneschal or sung by bard	A
Had often touched the soul of Eginhard	A
He saw her from his window as in state	A
She came by knights attended through the gate	A
He saw her at the banquet of that day	A
Fresh as the morn and beautiful as May	A
He saw her in the garden as she strayed	A
Among the flowers of summer with her maid	A
And said to him O Eginhard disclose	Q
The meaning and the mystery of the rose	Q
And trembling he made answer In good sooth	R
Its mystery is love its meaning youth	R
	-
How can I tell the signals and the signs	S
By which one heart another heart divines	S
How can I tell the many thousand ways	S
By which it keeps the secret it betrays	S
	-
O mystery of love O strange romance	S
Among the Peers and Paladins of France	S
Shining in steel and prancing on gay steeds	S
Noble by birth yet nobler by great deeds	S
The Princess Emma had no words nor looks	S
But for this clerk this man of thought and books	S
	-
The summer passed the autumn came the stalks	S
Of lilies blackened in the garden walks	S
The leaves fell russet golden and blood red	A
Love letters thought the poet fancy led	A
Or Jove descending in a shower of gold	A
Into the lap of Danae of old	A
For poets cherish many a strange conceit	A
And love transmutes all nature by its heat	A
	-
No more the garden lessons nor the dark	T
And hurried meetings in the twilight park	T
But now the studious lamp and the delights	S
Of firesides in the silent winter nights	S
And watching from his window hour by hour	U
The light that burned in Princess Emma's tower	U
	-
At length one night while musing by the fire	U
O'ercome at last by his insane desire	U
For what will reckless love not do and dare	V
He crossed the court and climbed the winding stair	V
With some feigned message in the Emperor's name	P
But when he to the lady's presence came	P
He knelt down at her feet until she laid	A
Her hand upon him like a naked blade	A
And whispered in his ear Arise Sir Knight	A
To my heart's level O my heart's delight	A
	-
And there he lingered till the crowing cock	W
The Alectryon of the farmyard and the flock	W
Sang his aubade with lusty voice and clear	X
To tell the sleeping world that dawn was near	X
And then they parted but at parting lo	Y
They saw the palace courtyard white with snow	Y
And placid as a nun the moon on high	F
Gazing from cloudy cloisters of the sky	F
Alas he said how hide the fatal line	E
Of footprints leading from thy door to mine	E
And none returning Ah he little knew	E
What woman's wit when put to proof can do	E
	-
That night the Emperor sleepless with the cares	S
And troubles that attend on state affairs	S
Had risen before the dawn and musing gazed	A
Into the silent night as one amazed	A
To see the calm that reigned o'er all supreme	Z
When his own reign was but a troubled dream	Z
The moon lit up the gables capped with snow	Y
And the white roofs and half the court below	Y
And he beheld a form that seemed to cower	U
Beneath a burden come from Emma's tower	U
A woman who upon her shoulders bore	A2
Clerk Eginhard to his own private door	A2
And then returned in haste but still essayed	A
To tread the footprints she herself had made	A
And as she passed across the lighted space	S
The Emperor saw his daughter Emma's face	S
	-
He started not he did not speak or moan	E
But seemed as one who hath been turned to stone	E
And stood there like a statue nor awoke	B2
Out of his trance of pain till morning broke	B2
Till the stars faded and the moon went down	E
And o'er the towers and steeples of the town	E
Came the gray daylight then the sun who took	H
The empire of the world with sovereign look	H
Suffusing with a soft and golden glow	Y
All the dead landscape in its shroud of snow	Y
Touching with flame the tapering chapel spires	S
Windows and roofs and smoke of household fires	S
And kindling park and palace as he came	P
The stork's nest on the chimney seemed in flame	P
And thus he stood till Eginhard appeared	A
Demure and modest with his comely beard	A
And flowing flaxen tresses come to ask	C2
As was his wont the day's appointed task	C2
	-
The Emperor looked upon him with a smile	D2
And gently said My son wait yet awhile	D2
This hour my council meets upon some great	A
And very urgent business of the state	A
Come back within the hour On thy return	E
The work appointed for thee shalt thou learn	E
	-
Having dismissed this gallant Troubadour	A2
He summoned straight his council and secure	D
And steadfast in his purpose from the throne	E
All the adventure of the night made known	E
Then asked for sentence and with eager breath	R
Some answered banishment and others death	R
	-
Then spake the king Your sentence is not mine	E
Life is the gift of God and is divine	E
Nor from these palace walls shall one depart	A
Who carries such a secret in his heart	A
My better judgment points another way	A
Good Alcuin I remember how one day	A
When my Pepino asked you 'What are men '	-
You wrote upon his tablets with your pen	E
'Guests of the grave and travellers that pass '	-
This being true of all men we alas	S
Being all fashioned of the selfsame dust	A
Let us be merciful as well as just	A
This passing traveller who hath stolen away	A
The brightest jewel of my crown to day	A
Shall of himself the precious gem restore	A2
By giving it I make it mine once more	A2
Over those fatal footprints I will throw	Y
My ermine mantle like another snow	Y
	-
Then Eginhard was summoned to the hall	E2
And entered and in presence of them all	E2
The Emperor said My son for thou to me	G
Hast been a son and evermore shalt be	G
Long hast thou served thy sovereign and thy zeal	O
Pleads to me with importunate appeal	O
While I have been forgetful to requite	A
Thy service and affection as was right	A
But now the hour is come when I thy Lord	A
Will crown thy love with such supreme reward	A
A gift so precious kings have striven in vain	E
To win it from the hands of Charlemagne	E
	-
Then sprang the portals of the chamber wide	A
And Princess Emma entered in the pride	A
Of birth and beauty that in part o'er came	P
The conscious terror and the blush of shame	P
And the good Emperor rose up from his throne	E
And taking her white hand within his own	E
Placed it in Eginhard's and said My son	E
This is the gift thy constant zeal hath won	E
Thus I repay the royal debt I owe	Y
And cover up the footprints in the snow	Y
	-
	-
	-
INTERLUDE	A
	-
Thus ran the Student's pleasant rhyme	F2
Of Eginhard and love and youth	R
Some doubted its historic truth	R
But while they doubted ne'ertheless	S
Saw in it gleams of truthfulness	S
And thanked the Monk of Lauresheim	F2
	-
This they discussed in various mood	A
Then in the silence that ensued	A
Was heard a sharp and sudden sound	A
As of a bowstring snapped in air	V
And the Musician with a bound	A
Sprang up in terror from his chair	V
And for a moment listening stood	A
Then strode across the room and found	A
His dear his darling violin	E
Still lying safe asleep within	E
Its little cradle like a child	A
That gives a sudden cry of pain	E
And wakes to fall asleep again	E
And as he looked at it and smiled	A
By the uncertain light beguiled	A
Despair two strings were broken in twain	E
	-
While all lamented and made moan	E
With many a sympathetic word	A
As if the loss had been their own	E
Deeming the tones they might have heard	A
Sweeter than they had heard before	A2
They saw the Landlord at the door	A2
The missing man the portly Squire	G2
He had not entered but he stood	A
With both arms full of seasoned wood	A
To feed the much devouring fire	U
That like a lion in a cage	H2
Lashed its long tail and roared with rage	H2
	-
The missing man Ah yes they said	A
Missing but whither had he fled	A
Where had he hidden himself away	A
No farther than the barn or shed	A
He had not hidden himself nor fled	A
How should he pass the rainy day	A
But in his barn with hens and hay	A
Or mending harness cart or sled	A
Now having come he needs must stay	A
And tell his tale as well as they	A
	-
The Landlord answered only These	S
Are logs from the dead apple trees	S
Of the old orchard planted here	I2
By the first Howe of Sudbury	G
Nor oak nor maple has so clear	X
A flame or burns so quietly	G
Or leaves an ash so clean and white	A
Thinking by this to put aside	A
The impending tale that terrified	A
When suddenly to his delight	A
The Theologian interposed	A
Saying that when the door was closed	A
And they had stopped that draft of cold	A
Unpleasant night air he proposed	A
To tell a tale world wide apart	A
From that the Student had just told	A
World wide apart and yet akin	E
As showing that the human heart	A
Beats on forever as of old	A
As well beneath the snow white fold	A
Of Quaker kerchief as within	E
Sendal or silk or cloth of gold	A
And without preface would begin	E
	-
And then the clamorous clock struck eight	A
Deliberate with sonorous chime	F2
Slow measuring out the march of time	F2
Like some grave Consul of old Rome	F2
In Jupiter's temple driving home	F2
The nails that marked the year and date	A
Thus interrupted in his rhyme	F2
The Theologian needs must wait	A
But quoted Horace where he sings	S
The dire Necessity of things	S
That drives into the roofs sublime	F2
Of new built houses of the great	A
The adamantine nails of Fate	A
	-
When ceased the little carillon	E
To herald from its wooden tower	U
The important transit of the hour	U
The Theologian hastened on	E
Content to be all owed at last	A
To sing his Idyl of the Past	A