A Ballad Of Hell Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAC DEF GHGI JAJK LML INON PQPQ RSRT UVUV GWGW XYZY KAKA A2EA2E B2XB2Z QC2Q P HD2HD2 E2F2E2F2 EVEV K OLOL D2G2D2G2 H2I2H2I2| 'A letter from my love to day | A |
| Oh unexpected dear appeal ' | B |
| She struck a happy tear away | A |
| And broke the crimson seal | C |
| - | |
| 'My love there is no help on earth | D |
| No help in heaven the dead man's bell | E |
| Must toll our wedding our first hearth | F |
| Must be the well paved floor of hell ' | - |
| - | |
| The colour died from out her face | G |
| Her eyes like ghostly candles shone | H |
| She cast dread looks about the place | G |
| Then clenched her teeth and read right on | I |
| - | |
| 'I may not pass the prison door | J |
| Here must I rot from day to day | A |
| Unless I wed whom I abhor | J |
| My cousin Blanche of Valencay | K |
| - | |
| 'At midnight with my dagger keen | L |
| I'll take my life it must be so | M |
| Meet me in hell to night my queen | L |
| For weal and woe ' | - |
| - | |
| She laughed although her face was wan | I |
| She girded on her golden belt | N |
| She took her jewelled ivory fan | O |
| And at her glowing missal knelt | N |
| - | |
| Then rose 'And am I mad ' she said | P |
| She broke her fan her belt untied | Q |
| With leather girt herself instead | P |
| And stuck a dagger at her side | Q |
| - | |
| She waited shuddering in her room | R |
| Till sleep had fallen on all the house | S |
| She never flinched she faced her doom | R |
| They two must sin to keep their vows | T |
| - | |
| Then out into the night she went | U |
| And stooping crept by hedge and tree | V |
| Her rose bush flung a snare of scent | U |
| And caught a happy memory | V |
| - | |
| She fell and lay a minute's space | G |
| She tore the sward in her distress | W |
| The dewy grass refreshed her face | G |
| She rose and ran with lifted dress | W |
| - | |
| She started like a morn caught ghost | X |
| Once when the moon came out and stood | Y |
| To watch the naked road she crossed | Z |
| And dived into the murmuring wood | Y |
| - | |
| The branches snatched her streaming cloak | K |
| A live thing shrieked she made no stay | A |
| She hurried to the trysting oak | K |
| Right well she knew the way | A |
| - | |
| Without a pause she bared her breast | A2 |
| And drove her dagger home and fell | E |
| And lay like one that takes her rest | A2 |
| And died and wakened up in hell | E |
| - | |
| She bathed her spirit in the flame | B2 |
| And near the centre took her post | X |
| From all sides to her ears there came | B2 |
| The dreary anguish of the lost | Z |
| - | |
| The devil started at her side | Q |
| Comely and tall and black as jet | C2 |
| 'I am young Malespina's bride | Q |
| Has he come hither yet ' | - |
| - | |
| 'My poppet welcome to your bed ' | - |
| 'Is Malespina here ' | - |
| 'Not he To morrow he must wed | P |
| His cousin Blanche my dear ' | - |
| - | |
| 'You lie he died with me to night ' | - |
| 'Not he it was a plot' 'You lie ' | - |
| 'My dear I never lie outright ' | - |
| 'We died at midnight he and I ' | - |
| - | |
| The devil went Without a groan | H |
| She gathered up in one fierce prayer | D2 |
| Took root in hell's midst all alone | H |
| And waited for him there | D2 |
| - | |
| She dared to make herself at home | E2 |
| Amidst the wail the uneasy stir | F2 |
| The blood stained flame that filled the dome | E2 |
| Scentless and silent shrouded her | F2 |
| - | |
| How long she stayed I cannot tell | E |
| But when she felt his perfidy | V |
| She marched across the floor of hell | E |
| And all the damned stood up to see | V |
| - | |
| The devil stopped her at the brink | K |
| She shook him off she cried 'Away ' | - |
| 'My dear you have gone mad I think ' | - |
| 'I was betrayed I will not stay ' | - |
| - | |
| Across the weltering deep she ran | O |
| A stranger thing was never seen | L |
| The damned stood silent to a man | O |
| They saw the great gulf set between | L |
| - | |
| To her it seemed a meadow fair | D2 |
| And flowers sprang up about her feet | G2 |
| She entered heaven she climbed the stair | D2 |
| And knelt down at the mercy seat | G2 |
| - | |
| Seraphs and saints with one great voice | H2 |
| Welcomed that soul that knew not fear | I2 |
| Amazed to find it could rejoice | H2 |
| Hell raised a hoarse half human cheer | I2 |
John Davidson
(1)
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