A Country Pathway Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GHIH JEJK ELEL MNMN OHOH EPEP QEQE RSRS TUT VWXW YZYZ A2B2A2B2 C2D2UD2 EPEP GFGF E2F2E2F2 G2H2I2H2 GJ2GJ2 CK2CK2 GL2GL2 M2GM2G N2O2P2O2 ECEC| I come upon it suddenly alone | A |
| A little pathway winding in the weeds | B |
| That fringe the roadside and with dreams my own | A |
| I wander as it leads | B |
| - | |
| Full wistfully along the slender way | C |
| Through summer tan of freckled shade and shine | D |
| I take the path that leads me as it may | C |
| Its every choice is mine | D |
| - | |
| A chipmunk or a sudden whirring quail | E |
| Is startled by my step as on I fare | F |
| A garter snake across the dusty trail | E |
| Glances and is not there | F |
| - | |
| Above the arching jimson weeds flare twos | G |
| And twos of sallow yellow butterflies | H |
| Like blooms of lorn primroses blowing loose | I |
| When autumn winds arise | H |
| - | |
| The trail dips dwindles broadens then and lifts | J |
| Itself astride a cross road dubiously | E |
| And from the fennel marge beyond it drifts | J |
| Still onward beckoning me | K |
| - | |
| And though it needs must lure me mile on mile | E |
| Out of the public highway still I go | L |
| My thoughts far in advance in Indian file | E |
| Allure me even so | L |
| - | |
| Why I am as a long lost boy that went | M |
| At dusk to bring the cattle to the bars | N |
| And was not found again though Heaven lent | M |
| His mother all the stars | N |
| - | |
| With which to seek him through that awful night | O |
| O years of nights as vain Stars never rise | H |
| But well might miss their glitter in the light | O |
| Of tears in mother eyes | H |
| - | |
| So on with quickened breaths I follow still | E |
| My avant courier must be obeyed | P |
| Thus am I led and thus the path at will | E |
| Invites me to invade | P |
| - | |
| A meadow's precincts where my daring guide | Q |
| Clambers the steps of an old fashioned stile | E |
| And stumbles down again the other side | Q |
| To gambol there a while | E |
| - | |
| In pranks of hide and seek as on ahead | R |
| I see it running while the clover stalks | S |
| Shake rosy fists at me as though they said | R |
| 'You dog our country walks | S |
| - | |
| 'And mutilate us with your walking stick | T |
| We will not suffer tamely what you do | U |
| And warn you at your peril for we'll sick | T |
| Our bumblebees on you ' | - |
| - | |
| But I smile back in airy nonchalance | V |
| The more determined on my wayward quest | W |
| As some bright memory a moment dawns | X |
| A morning in my breast | W |
| - | |
| Sending a thrill that hurries me along | Y |
| In faulty similes of childish skips | Z |
| Enthused with lithe contortions of a song | Y |
| Performing on my lips | Z |
| - | |
| In wild meanderings o'er pasture wealth | A2 |
| Erratic wanderings through dead'ning lands | B2 |
| Where sly old brambles plucking me by stealth | A2 |
| Put berries in my hands | B2 |
| - | |
| Or the path climbs a boulder wades a slough | C2 |
| Or rollicking through buttercups and flags | D2 |
| Goes gaily dancing o'er a deep bayou | U |
| On old tree trunks and snags | D2 |
| - | |
| Or at the creek leads o'er a limpid pool | E |
| Upon a bridge the stream itself has made | P |
| With some Spring freshet for the mighty tool | E |
| That its foundation laid | P |
| - | |
| I pause a moment here to bend and muse | G |
| With dreamy eyes on my reflection where | F |
| A boat backed bug drifts on a helpless cruise | G |
| Or wildly oars the air | F |
| - | |
| As dimly seen the pirate of the brook | E2 |
| The pike whose jaunty hulk denotes his speed | F2 |
| Swings pivoting about with wary look | E2 |
| Of low and cunning greed | F2 |
| - | |
| Till filled with other thought I turn again | G2 |
| To where the pathway enters in a realm | H2 |
| Of lordly woodland under sovereign reign | I2 |
| Of towering oak and elm | H2 |
| - | |
| A puritanic quiet here reviles | G |
| The almost whispered warble from the hedge | J2 |
| And takes a locust's rasping voice and files | G |
| The silence to an edge | J2 |
| - | |
| In such a solitude my somber way | C |
| Strays like a misanthrope within a gloom | K2 |
| Of his own shadows till the perfect day | C |
| Bursts into sudden bloom | K2 |
| - | |
| And crowns a long declining stretch of space | G |
| Where King Corn's armies lie with flags unfurled | L2 |
| And where the valley's dint in Nature's face | G |
| Dimples a smiling world | L2 |
| - | |
| And lo through mists that may not be dispelled | M2 |
| I see an old farm homestead as in dreams | G |
| Where like a gem in costly setting held | M2 |
| The old log cabin gleams | G |
| - | |
| - | |
| - | |
| O darling Pathway lead me bravely on | N2 |
| Adown your valley way and run before | O2 |
| Among the roses crowding up the lawn | P2 |
| And thronging at the door | O2 |
| - | |
| And carry up the echo there that shall | E |
| Arouse the drowsy dog that he may bay | C |
| The household out to greet the prodigal | E |
| That wanders home to day | C |
James Whitcomb Riley
(1)
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About A Country Pathway
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