The Jamestown Anniversary Ode Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDD EEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLGGMM NNMMOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVV WW HHXXYYZZA2A2B2B2BBMM XXC2C2MMD2D2E2E2F2F2 G2G2H2H2I2I2DDJ2J2K2 K2L2L2| In those vast forests dwelt a race of kings | A |
| Free as the eagle when he spreads his wings | A |
| His wings which never in their wild flight lag | B |
| In mists which fly the fierce tornado's flag | B |
| Their flight the eagle's and their name alas | C |
| The eagle's shadow swooping o'er the grass | C |
| Or as it fades it well may seem to be | D |
| The shade of tempest driven o'er the sea | D |
| - | |
| Fierce too this race as mountain torrent wild | E |
| With haughty hearts where Mercy rarely smiled | E |
| All their traditions histories imbued | F |
| With tales of war and sanguinary feud | F |
| Yet though they never couched the knightly lance | G |
| The glowing songs of Europe's old romance | G |
| Can find their parallels amid the race | H |
| Which on this spot met England face to face | H |
| And when they met the white man hand to hand | I |
| Twilight and sunrise stood upon the strand | I |
| Twilight and sunrise Saxon sunshine gleams | J |
| To day o'er prairies and those distant streams | J |
| Which hurry onward through far Western plains | K |
| Where the last Indian for a season reigns | K |
| Here the red CANUTE on this spot sat down | L |
| His splendid forehead stormy with a frown | L |
| To quell with the wild lightning of his glance | G |
| The swift encroachment of the wave's advance | G |
| To meet and check the ruthless tide which rose | M |
| Crest after crest of energetic foes | M |
| While high and strong poured on each cruel wave | N |
| Until they left his royalty a grave | N |
| But o'er this wild tumultuous deluge glows | M |
| A vision fair as Heaven to saint e'er shows | M |
| A dove of mercy o'er the billows dark | O |
| Fluttered awhile then fled within God's ark | O |
| Had I the power I'd reverently describe | P |
| That peerless maid the pearl of all her tribe | P |
| As evening fair when coming night and day | Q |
| Contend together which shall wield its sway | Q |
| But here abashed my paltry fancy stays | R |
| For her too humble its most stately lays | R |
| A shade of twilight's softest sweetest gloom | S |
| The dusk of morning found a splendid tomb | S |
| In England's glare so strange so vast so bright | T |
| The dusk of morning burst in splendid light | T |
| Which falleth through the Past's cathedral aisles | U |
| Till sculptured Mercy like a seraph smiles | U |
| And though Fame's grand and consecrated fane | V |
| No kingly statue may in time retain | V |
| Her name shall linger nor with age grow faint | W |
| Its simple sound the image of a saint | W |
| - | |
| Sad is the story of that maiden's race | H |
| Long driven from each legendary place | H |
| All their expansive hunting grounds are now | X |
| Torn by the iron of the Saxon's plough | X |
| Which turns up skulls and arrow heads and bones | Y |
| Their places nameless and unmarked by stones | Y |
| Now freighted vessels toil along the view | Z |
| Where once was seen the Indian's bark canoe | Z |
| And to the woods the shrill escaping steam | A2 |
| Proclaims our triumph in discordant scream | A2 |
| Where rose the wigwam in its sylvan shade | B2 |
| Where the bold hunter in his freedom strayed | B2 |
| And met his foe or chased the bounding stag | B |
| The lazy horses at the harrow lag | B |
| Where the rude dance was held or war song rose | M |
| The scene is one of plenty and repose | M |
| The quiver of her race is empty now | X |
| Its bow lies broken underneath the plough | X |
| And where the wheat fields ripple in the gale | C2 |
| The vanished hunter scarcely leaves a trail | C2 |
| 'Twas where yon river musically flows | M |
| The European's nomenclature rose | M |
| A keen edged axe which since alas has swept | D2 |
| Away their names those boughs which blossoms kept | D2 |
| Leaving so few that when their story's drowned | E2 |
| 'Twill sink alas with no fair garland crowned | E2 |
| What strange vicissitudes and perils fell | F2 |
| On the first settlers 'tis not mine to tell | F2 |
| I scarce may pause to syllable the name | G2 |
| Which the great Captain left behind to fame | G2 |
| A name which echoes through the tented past | H2 |
| Like sound of charge rung in a bugle's blast | H2 |
| His age although it still put faith in stars | I2 |
| No longer glanced through feudal helmet's bars | I2 |
| But stood in its half armor thus stands he | D |
| An image half of antique chivalry | D |
| And half presented to our eager eyes | J2 |
| The brilliant type of modern enterprise | J2 |
| A knightly blade without one spot of rust | K2 |
| Undimmed by time and undefaced by dust | K2 |
| His name hangs up in that past age's hall | L2 |
| Where many hang the brightest of them all | L2 |
James Barron Hope
(1)
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The Jamestown Anniversary Ode is a poem by James Barron Hope. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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