The Shell Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAACDDEFEGHGIIJJJKK LLMMNNOOPP| AND then I pressed the shell | A |
| Close to my ear | B |
| And listened well | A |
| And straightway like a bell | A |
| Came low and clear | C |
| The slow sad murmur of the distant seas | D |
| Whipped by an icy breeze | D |
| Upon a shore | E |
| Wind swept and desolate | F |
| It was a sunless strand that never bore | E |
| The footprint of a man | G |
| Nor felt the weight | H |
| Since time began | G |
| Of any human quality or stir | I |
| Save what the dreary winds and waves incur | I |
| And in the hush of waters was the sound | J |
| Of pebbles rolling round | J |
| For ever rolling with a hollow sound | J |
| And bubbling sea weeds as the waters go | K |
| Swish to and fro | K |
| Their long cold tentacles of slimy grey | L |
| There was no day | L |
| Nor ever came a night | M |
| Setting the stars alight | M |
| To wonder at the moon | N |
| Was twilight only and the frightened croon | N |
| Smitten to whimpers of the dreary wind | O |
| And waves that journeyed blind | O |
| And then I loosed my ear O it was sweet | P |
| To hear a cart go jolting down the street | P |
James Stephens
(5)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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