A Historical Problem Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD EEFG HHII JCAK LLMM NNOO PPEE JJJJ LLQQ RRST JJJJ UUVV WWXX YYZZ| KING AHASUERUS in his palace at Shu Sh n | A |
| Gave a feast unto his princes Tarshish Meres Memuc n | A |
| And some others whose outlandish names it boots not to rehearse | B |
| You will find them all in Esther chapter First and fourteenth verse | B |
| - | |
| And when the feast was at its height and jest and story flew | C |
| And reverberant laughter shook the hangings white and green and blue | C |
| Ahasuerus hammered with his sceptre on the board | D |
| And at the royal signal silence promptly was restored | D |
| - | |
| Great lords our Privy Councillors the mighty monarch said | E |
| The chiefest of our provinces is now without a head | E |
| Assyria is vacant and we ask you who is he | F |
| Who worthiest is to rule the roost in that great Satrapy | G |
| - | |
| Then one named one another one till all had said their say | H |
| But at each name the monarch shook his head and answered Nay | H |
| Ye only think he cried of high degree and princely birth | I |
| Hen w horbar y nor is the man for Us whose claim is simply worth | I |
| - | |
| Hen w horbar y nor At the name there burst so joyful a hurroo | J |
| That the palace hangings swayed in curves of white and green and blue | C |
| And waving golden goblets Tarshish Meres Memuc n | A |
| Etcetera shouted Live the King Hen w horbar y nor is the man | K |
| - | |
| Now Hen w horbar y nor was a modest chief who ruled a scanty folk | L |
| And his soul was filled with wonder when the news upon him broke | L |
| Which proves if proof is wanted that a man may be alert | M |
| And wideawake to everything except his own desert | M |
| - | |
| The war worn hero fain had put the glittering prize aside | N |
| But Duty called with trumpet tone and would not be denied | N |
| And at the old familiar sound his answering spirit leapt | O |
| And his posts were straightway flying with the message I accept | O |
| - | |
| And his people ah his people they were glad and they were sad | P |
| They were proud and yet cast down the news was good the news was bad | P |
| Each felt higher by a cubit and yet lower by a head | E |
| And they bragged of his promotion mingling tears with what they said | E |
| - | |
| But where all sincerely sorrowed Persian chroniclers agree | J |
| That the saddest of the mourners were the Civil Scribery | J |
| A superior class of men who these same chroniclers declare | J |
| Were the best of all good fellows in that land or anywhere | J |
| - | |
| Now the Scribery had a custom quite peculiar to this folk | L |
| To give departing friends an apotheosis of smoke | L |
| So they waited on the Satrap and besought him to submit | Q |
| To the process on such evening as His Altitude thought fit | Q |
| - | |
| 'Tis small honour we can render said the scribe who spoke their views | R |
| We are poor Sir devilish poor with ten per centum off our screws | R |
| But we'd fain give you a pleasure to remember when you're gone | S |
| And the kindly Satrap bowed his honour'd head and said I'm on | T |
| - | |
| But when the deputation had departed there came near | J |
| A stealthy footed chamberlain who whispered in his ear | J |
| There s a Farewell Ode included in the pleasure they prepare | J |
| And the hero of a hundred fights dropped back into his chair | J |
| - | |
| Yea he whose eye had ever in fierce conflict brightest glowed | U |
| He who before had ne'er known fear now quailed before the Ode | U |
| And he cried Is there no outlet from this horrible abyss | V |
| Chillianwallah Delhi Gujerat were not a patch on this | V |
| - | |
| Yet stay for now a happy thought took shape within his brain | W |
| You cannot Farewell Ode a man who chooses to remain | W |
| Oh blessed inspiration the solution clear he saw | X |
| And out he rushed and wired Ahasuerus I withdraw | X |
| - | |
| - | |
| - | |
| Exit Farewell Ode But synchronously with its exit came | Y |
| A new problem into history that still preserves his fame | Y |
| For historians still dispute the question each with some fresh lie | Z |
| Why Hen w horbar y nor slung Assyria But we know the reason why | Z |
James Brunton Stephens
(1)
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