A Miracle Of Bethlehem Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AB B CDCD E FGFG E HIHI E JKJK LDLD MNMN B G O GPQPGQPR B SS T G E C B G A UVUVWW BXBXYY CZCZA2A2I E B2 E B2HC2C2D2H B EE2 E F2E2 B E2BBG2H2 E I2I2 B UX E U B GG E J2J2YYA2K2K2A2L2L2 B D E M2M2N2 B N2 E O2O2G B G E HP2HP2S B SQ2 B X R2R2S2 T2 U2U2 B S2F2V2 T2 F2SCENE A street of that village | A |
Three men with ropes accosted by a stranger | B |
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THE STRANGER | B |
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I pray you tell me where you go | C |
With heads averted from the skies | D |
And long ropes trailing in the snow | C |
And resolution in your eyes | D |
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THE FIRST MAN | E |
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I am a lover sick of love | F |
For scorn rewards my constancy | G |
And now I hate the stars above | F |
Because my dear will naught of me | G |
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THE SECOND MAN | E |
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I am a beggar man and play | H |
Songs with a splendid swing in them | I |
But I have seen no food to day | H |
They want no song in Bethlehem | I |
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THE THIRD MAN | E |
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I am an old man Sir and blind | J |
A child of darkness since my birth | K |
I cannot even call to mind | J |
The beauty of the scheme of earth | K |
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Therefore I sought to understand | L |
A secret hid from mortal eyes | D |
So in a far and fragrant land | L |
I talked with men accounted wise | D |
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And I implored the Indian priest | M |
For wisdom from his holy snake | N |
Yet am no wiser in the least | M |
And have not seen the darkness break | N |
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STRANGER | B |
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And whither go ye now unhappy three | G |
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THE THREE MEN WITH ROPES | O |
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Sir in our strange and special misery | G |
We met this night and swore in bitter pride | P |
To sing one song together friend with friend | Q |
And then proceeding to the country side | P |
To bind this cordage to a barren tree | G |
And face to face to give our lives an end | Q |
And only thus shall we be satisfied | P |
They make to continue their road | R |
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THE STRANGER | B |
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Stay for a moment Great is your despair | S |
But God is kind What voice from over there | S |
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A WOMAN from a lattice | T |
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My lover O my lover come to me | G |
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FIRST MAN | E |
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God with you he runs to the window | C |
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STRANGER | B |
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Ah how swiftly gone is he | G |
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MANY VOICES heard singing in a cottage | A |
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There is a softness in the night | U |
A wonder in that splendid star | V |
That fills us with delight | U |
Poor foolish working people that we are | V |
And only fit to keep | W |
A little garden or a dozen sheep | W |
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Old broken women at the fire | B |
Have many ancient tales they sing | X |
How the whole world's desire | B |
Should blossom here and how a child should bring | X |
New glory to his race | Y |
Though born in so contemptible a place | Y |
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Let all come in if any brother go | C |
In shame or hunger cold or fear | Z |
Through all this waste of snow | C |
To night the Star the Rose the Song are near | Z |
And still inside the door | A2 |
Is full provision for another score | A2 |
The Beggar runs to them | I |
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THE STRANGER to the Blind Man | E |
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Do you not mean to share these joys | B2 |
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THE BLIND MAN | E |
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Aweary of this earthly noise | B2 |
I pace my silent way | H |
Come you and help me tie this rope | C2 |
I would not lose my only hope | C2 |
Already clear the birds I hear | D2 |
Already breaks the day | H |
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STRANGER | B |
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O foolish and most blind old man | E |
Where are those other two | E2 |
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THE BLIND MAN | E |
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Why one is wed and t'other fed | F2 |
Small thanks they gave to you | E2 |
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STRANGER | B |
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To me no thanks are due | E2 |
Yet since I have some little power | B |
Bequeathed me at this holy hour | B |
I tell you friend that God shall grant | G2 |
This night to you your dearest want | H2 |
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THE BLIND MAN | E |
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Why this sweet odour Why this flame | I2 |
I am afraid What is your name | I2 |
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THE STRANGER | B |
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Ask your desire for this great night | U |
Is passing | X |
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THE BLIND MAN | E |
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Sir I ask my sight | U |
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THE STRANGER | B |
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To see this earth Or would you see | G |
That hidden world which sent you me | G |
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THE BLIND MAN | E |
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O sweet it were but once before I die | J2 |
To track the bird about the windy sky | J2 |
Or watch the soft and changing grace | Y |
Imprinted on a human face | Y |
Yet grant me that which most I struggled for | A2 |
Since I am old and snow is on the ground | K2 |
On earth there's little to be found | K2 |
And I would bear with earth no more | A2 |
O gentle youth | L2 |
A fool am I but let me see the Truth | L2 |
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THE STRANGER | B |
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Gaze in my eyes | D |
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THE BLIND MAN | E |
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How can I gaze | M2 |
What song is that and what these rays | M2 |
Of splendour and this rush of wings | N2 |
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THE STRANGER | B |
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These are the new celestial things | N2 |
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THE BLIND MAN | E |
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Round the body of a child | O2 |
A great dark flame runs wild | O2 |
What may this be | G |
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THE STRANGER | B |
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Look further you shall see | G |
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THE BLIND MAN | E |
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Out on the sea of time and far away | H |
The Empires sail like ships and many years | P2 |
Scatter before them in a mist of spray | H |
Beyond is mist when the mist clears | P2 |
Enough Away O friend I would be there | S |
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STRANGER | B |
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It is most sure that God has heard his prayer | S |
The stranger vanishes | Q2 |
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THE BEGGAR | B |
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Leading a troop of revellers from the house where they were singing | X |
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Come brothers seek my friend and bring him in | R2 |
On such a night as this it were a sin | R2 |
To leave the blind alone | S2 |
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THE REVELLERS | T2 |
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Greatly we fear lest he still resolute | U2 |
Have wandered to the fields for poisoned fruit | U2 |
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THE BEGGAR | B |
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See here upon this stone | S2 |
He is all frozen take him to a bed | F2 |
And warm his hands | V2 |
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THE REVELLERS | T2 |
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O sorrow he is dead | F2 |
James Elroy Flecker
(1)
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