The Hind And The Panther: Part I (excerpts) Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCDEE FFGGHIJJKKLLMMNN OOPPEQRRSS TUVVWXYY QQZZZA2A2B2B2C2D2E2E 2MMEVF2F2 G2G2H2H2RRI2I2J2J2K2 K2L2OM2B2N2N2EQEO2P2 Q2R2H2H2S2S2T2T2 U2U2S2S2F2F2QQV2J2W2 W2X2X2Y2Y2Q2Q2EE| A milk white Hind immortal and unchang'd | A |
| Fed on the lawns and in the forest rang'd | A |
| Without unspotted innocent within | B |
| She fear'd no danger for she knew no sin | B |
| Yet had she oft been chas'd with horns and hounds | C |
| And Scythian shafts and many winged wounds | D |
| Aim'd at her heart was often forc'd to fly | E |
| And doom'd to death though fated not to die | E |
| - | |
| Not so her young for their unequal line | F |
| Was hero's make half human half divine | F |
| Their earthly mold obnoxious was to fate | G |
| Th' immortal part assum'd immortal state | G |
| Of these a slaughter'd army lay in blood | H |
| Extended o'er the Caledonian wood | I |
| Their native walk whose vocal blood arose | J |
| And cried for pardon on their perjur'd foes | J |
| Their fate was fruitful and the sanguine seed | K |
| Endued with souls increas'd the sacred breed | K |
| So captive Israel multiplied in chains | L |
| A numerous exile and enjoy'd her pains | L |
| With grief and gladness mix'd their mother view'd | M |
| Her martyr'd offspring and their race renew'd | M |
| Their corps to perish but their kind to last | N |
| So much the deathless plant the dying fruit surpass'd | N |
| - | |
| Panting and pensive now she rang'd alone | O |
| And wander'd in the kingdoms once her own | O |
| The common hunt tho' from their rage restrain'd | P |
| By sov'reign pow'r her company disdain'd | P |
| Grinn'd as they pass'd and with a glaring eye | E |
| Gave gloomy signs of secret enmity | Q |
| 'T is true she bounded by and tripp'd so light | R |
| They had not time to take a steady sight | R |
| For Truth has such a face and such a mien | S |
| As to be lov'd needs only to be seen | S |
| - | |
| The bloody Bear an Independent beast | T |
| Unlick'd to form in groans her hate express'd | U |
| Among the timorous kind the Quaking Hare | V |
| Profess'd neutrality but would not swear | V |
| Next her the buffoon Ape as atheists use | W |
| Mimick'd all sects and had his own to choose | X |
| Still when the Lion look'd his knees he bent | Y |
| And paid at church a courtier's compliment | Y |
| - | |
| The bristled Baptist Boar impure as he | Q |
| But whiten'd with the foam of sanctity | Q |
| With fat pollutions fill'd the sacred place | Z |
| And mountains levell'd in his furious race | Z |
| So first rebellion founded was in grace | Z |
| But since the mighty ravage which he made | A2 |
| In German forests had his guilt betray'd | A2 |
| With broken tusks and with a borrow'd name | B2 |
| He shunn'd the vengeance and conceal'd the shame | B2 |
| So lurk'd in sects unseen With greater guile | C2 |
| False Reynard fed on consecrated spoil | D2 |
| The graceless beast by Athanasius first | E2 |
| Was chas'd from Nice then by Socinus nurs'd | E2 |
| His impious race their blasphemy renew'd | M |
| And nature's King through nature's optics view'd | M |
| Revers'd they view'd him lessen'd to their eye | E |
| Nor in an infant could a God descry | V |
| New swarming sects to this obliquely tend | F2 |
| Hence they began and here they all will end | F2 |
| - | |
| What weight of ancient witness can prevail | G2 |
| If private reason hold the public scale | G2 |
| But gracious God how well dost thou provide | H2 |
| For erring judgments an unerring guide | H2 |
| Thy throne is darkness in th' abyss of light | R |
| A blaze of glory that forbids the sight | R |
| O teach me to believe Thee thus conceal'd | I2 |
| And search no farther than Thyself reveal'd | I2 |
| But her alone for my director take | J2 |
| Whom Thou hast promis'd never to forsake | J2 |
| My thoughtless youth was wing'd with vain desires | K2 |
| My manhood long misled by wand'ring fires | K2 |
| Follow'd false lights and when their glimpse was gone | L2 |
| My pride struck out new sparkles of her own | O |
| Such was I such by nature still I am | M2 |
| Be thine the glory and be mine the shame | B2 |
| Good life be now my task my doubts are done | N2 |
| What more could fright my faith than Three in One | N2 |
| Can I believe eternal God could lie | E |
| Disguis'd in mortal mould and infancy | Q |
| That the great Maker of the world could die | E |
| And after that trust my imperfect sense | O2 |
| Which calls in question his omnipotence | P2 |
| Can I my reason to my faith compel | Q2 |
| And shall my sight and touch and taste rebel | R2 |
| Superior faculties are set aside | H2 |
| Shall their subservient organs be my guide | H2 |
| Then let the moon usurp the rule of day | S2 |
| And winking tapers show the sun his way | S2 |
| For what my senses can themselves perceive | T2 |
| I need no revelation to believe | T2 |
| - | |
| - | |
| The Panther sure the noblest next the Hind | U2 |
| And fairest creature of the spotted kind | U2 |
| Oh could her inborn stains be wash'd away | S2 |
| She were too good to be a beast of prey | S2 |
| How can I praise or blame and not offend | F2 |
| Or how divide the frailty from the friend | F2 |
| Her faults and virtues lie so mix'd that she | Q |
| Nor wholly stands condemn'd nor wholly free | Q |
| Then like her injur'd Lion let me speak | V2 |
| He cannot bend her and he would not break | J2 |
| Unkind already and estrang'd in part | W2 |
| The Wolf begins to share her wand'ring heart | W2 |
| Though' unpolluted yet with actual ill | X2 |
| She half commits who sins but in her will | X2 |
| If as our dreaming Platonists report | Y2 |
| There could be spirits of a middle sort | Y2 |
| Too black for heav'n and yet too white for hell | Q2 |
| Who just dropp'd halfway down nor lower fell | Q2 |
| So pois'd so gently she descends from high | E |
| It seems a soft dismission from the sky | E |
| - |
John Dryden
(1)
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About The Hind And The Panther: Part I (excerpts)
The Hind And The Panther: Part I (excerpts) is a poem by John Dryden. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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