Eurydice Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BCDEF GHBIJ GFHK LHHMNF A OHPH BPHH BPHDH HHHHHH QDQRSHHQTP A DPDDP PBBBP UHHDHP HVVDDWD DD HPXHHH W HHDDDPPH PHH HHH HHHQH DDHHPHH HYD BQHHQP HNHZBHH PPHP HHBHP PHH

IA
-
So you have swept me backB
I who could have walked with the live soulsC
above the earthD
I who could have slept among the live flowersE
at lastF
-
so for your arroganceG
and your ruthlessnessH
I am swept backB
where dead lichens dripI
dead cinders upon moss of ashJ
-
so for your arroganceG
I am broken at lastF
I who had lived unconsciousH
who was almost forgotK
-
if you had let me waitL
I had grown from listlessnessH
into peaceH
if you had let me rest with the deadM
I had forgot youN
and the pastF
-
IIA
-
Here only flame upon flameO
and black among the red sparksH
streaks of black and lightP
grown colourlessH
-
why did you turn backB
that hell should be reinhabitedP
of myself thusH
swept into nothingnessH
-
why did you glance backB
why did you hesitate for that momentP
why did you bend your faceH
caught with the flame of the upper earthD
above my faceH
-
what was it that crossed my faceH
with the light from yoursH
and your glanceH
what was it you saw in my faceH
the light of your own faceH
the fire of your own presenceH
-
What had my face to offerQ
but reflex of the earthD
hyacinth colourQ
caught from the raw fissure in the rockR
where the light struckS
and the colour of azure crocusesH
and the bright surface of gold crocusesH
and of the wind flowerQ
swift in its veins as lightningT
and as whiteP
-
IIIA
-
Saffron from the fringe of the earthD
wild saffron that has bentP
over the sharp edge of earthD
all the flowers that cut through the earthD
all all the flowers are lostP
-
everything is lostP
everything is crossed with blackB
black upon blackB
and worse than blackB
this colourless lightP
-
IV-
-
Fringe upon fringeU
of blue crocusesH
crocuses walled against blue of themselvesH
blue of that upper earthD
blue of the depth upon depth of flowersH
lostP
-
flowersH
if I could have taken once my breath of themV
enough of themV
more than earthD
even than of the upper earthD
had passed with meW
beneath the earthD
-
if I could have caught up from the earthD
the whole of the flowers of the earthD
if once I could have breathed into myself-
the very golden crocusesH
and the redP
and the very golden hearts of the first saffronX
the whole of the golden massH
the whole of the great fragranceH
I could have dared the lossH
-
VW
-
So for your arroganceH
and your ruthlessnessH
I have lost the earthD
and the flowers of the earthD
and the live souls above the earthD
and you who passed across the lightP
and reachedP
ruthlessH
-
you who have your own lightP
who are to yourself a presenceH
who need no presenceH
-
yet for all your arroganceH
and your glanceH
I tell you thisH
-
such loss is no lossH
such terror such coils and strands and pitfallsH
of blacknessH
such terrorQ
is no lossH
-
hell is no worse than your earthD
above the earthD
hell is no worseH
no nor your flowersH
nor your veins of lightP
nor your presenceH
a lossH
-
my hell is no worse than yoursH
though you pass among the flowers and speakY
with the spirits above earthD
-
VI-
-
Against the blackB
I have more fervourQ
than you in all the splendour of that placeH
against the blacknessH
and the stark greyQ
I have more lightP
-
and the flowersH
if I should tell youN
you would turn from your own fit pathsH
toward hellZ
turn again and glance backB
and I would sink into a placeH
even more terrible than thisH
-
VII-
-
At least I have the flowers of myself-
and my thoughts no godP
can take thatP
I have the fervour of myself for a presenceH
and my own spirit for lightP
-
and my spirit with its lossH
knows thisH
though small against the blackB
small against the formless rocksH
hell must break before I am lostP
-
before I am lostP
hell must open like a red roseH
for the dead to passH

Hilda Doolittle



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