Numa Pompilius Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDAEAFGHGAIJIAKJK JLMLNOAO PQJQJAJAPRARJSCSDTUT VJAJUJJJMAJAJWVWJJXJ YKZKJJJJJIZIA2JXJXXV XJB2ZB2ULJLFZJZJOMO| O well is thee King Numa | A |
| Within thy secret cave | B |
| Where thy bones are ever moistened | C |
| By sad Egeria s wave | B |
| None now have power to pilfer | D |
| The treasure of thy tomb | A |
| And reveal the institutions | E |
| And secret Rites of Rome | A |
| O blessed be the Senate | F |
| That stowed those books away | G |
| Curst be the attempt of Niebuhr | H |
| To drag them into day | G |
| Light be the pressure Numa | A |
| Around thy watery bed | I |
| May no perplexing problems | J |
| Infest thy kingly head | I |
| As thus I blessed King Numa | A |
| And struggled hard with sleep | K |
| I felt unwonted chillness | J |
| O er all my members creep | K |
| Before mine eyes in fragments | J |
| The fireplace seemed to roll | L |
| The chillness left my body | M |
| And slid into my soul | L |
| Deep in Egeria's grotto | N |
| I saw the darksome well | O |
| I slowly sunk to Numa | A |
| But why I cannot tell | O |
| - | |
| What Livest thou still old Sabine | P |
| With thy mysterious wife | Q |
| Yes here beneath the surface | J |
| We lead a torpid life | Q |
| But little think the Critics | J |
| Who nullify old Rome | A |
| That in these benumbing waters | J |
| I always lived at home | A |
| Never was I a Sabine | P |
| Or lived like men above | R |
| No mortal wight was Numa | A |
| Who quelled the fear of Jove | R |
| Before my day the Romans | J |
| Served gods of wood and stone | S |
| But what each man had fashioned | C |
| That worshipped he alone | S |
| With care he saved the silver | D |
| With pains the mould designed | T |
| He loved and feared the offspring | U |
| Of his pocket and his mind | T |
| To him he went for counsel | V |
| And then to Common Sense | J |
| When both of these had failed him | A |
| He took to tossing pence | J |
| But I forbade all tossing | U |
| Made men enquire of beasts | J |
| Pulled down all private idols | J |
| And set up public priests | J |
| Birds too said I are holy | M |
| They show us things to come | A |
| They have more subtle spirits | J |
| Than wooden idols dumb | A |
| No longer burn your incense | J |
| Before your private shrine | W |
| My Vestals are most careful | V |
| To feed the flame divine | W |
| Dismiss all fear of idols | J |
| Of demons and of gods | J |
| My Augurs will protect you | X |
| With their long crooked rods | J |
| With such the careful shepherd | Y |
| Drags lambs from ditches deep | K |
| With such he points to heaven | Z |
| When they are fast asleep | K |
| O trust me those same Augurs | J |
| Know more about the stars | J |
| Than you whose only business | J |
| Is everlasting wars | J |
| How can you be religious | J |
| How can they work for bread | I |
| You sinners must be shriven | Z |
| My Augurs must be fed | I |
| You know dividing labour | A2 |
| To nations riches brings | J |
| So let my Augurs shrive you | X |
| While you mind earthly things | J |
| Your case I ve set before you | X |
| You see the thing to do | X |
| If you fork out the needful | V |
| They do your job for you | X |
| With this and other speeches | J |
| I brought the people round | B2 |
| Till not a single Roman | Z |
| In Jove s house can be found | B2 |
| For well he knows each evening | U |
| When bells in steeples toll | L |
| Tis a sign that well paid Augurs | J |
| Are helping on his soul | L |
| Twas this that kept em quiet | F |
| Through all my fabled reign | Z |
| Till quarrelsome young Tullus | J |
| Brought battles back again | Z |
| Thus my cold blooded doctrines | J |
| The fear of Jove could quell | O |
| Wonder not then to find me | M |
| Alive here in a well | O |
James Clerk Maxwell
(1)
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About Numa Pompilius
Numa Pompilius is a poem by James Clerk Maxwell. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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