Aechdeacon Barbour Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBBCCAADEFFAAGGHHI IJJKKLLAAAAMMNNOOPPA AQQQRSTTUUAAVVAEWWWA AAEXXIYDDZZA2A2LLB2B 2OC2MMAAD2D2E2E2F2EK KG2G2H2H2G2G2AAPPI2I 2J2J2G2G2K2TQQWWG2G2 B2B2BBI2I2L2L2IIAAG2 G2G2G2L2L2AEQQG2G2AA G2G2AAAAAADDM2M2PPG2 G2G2G2N2O2P2P2AG2QQG 2G2I2I2AAAAP2P2

THROUGH the long hall the shuttered windows shedA
A dubious light on every upturned headA
On locks like those of Absalom the fairB
On the bald apex ringed with scanty hairB
On blank indifference and on curious stareB
On the pale Showman reading from his stageC
The hieroglyphics of that facial pageC
Half sad half scornful listening to the bruitA
Of restless cane tap and impatient footA
And the shrill call across the general dinD
'Roll up your curtain Let the show begin 'E
At length a murmur like the winds that breakF
Into green waves the prairie's grassy lakeF
Deepened and swelled to music clear and loudA
And as the west wind lifts a summer cloudA
The curtain rose disclosing wide and farG
A green land stretching to the evening starG
Fair rivers skirted by primeval treesH
And flowers hummed over by the desert beesH
Marked by tall bluffs whose slopes of greenness showI
Fantastic outcrops of the rock belowI
The slow result of patient Nature's painsJ
And plastic fingering of her sun and rainsJ
Arch tower and gate grotesquely windowed hallK
And long escarpment of half crumbled wallK
Huger than those which from steep hills of vineL
Stare through their loopholes on the travelled RhineL
Suggesting vaguely to the gazer's mindA
A fancy idle as the prairie windA
Of the land's dwellers in an age unguessedA
The unsung Jotuns of the mystic WestA
Beyond the prairie's sea like swells surpassM
The Tartar's marvels of his Land of GrassM
Vast as the sky against whose sunset shoresN
Wave after wave the billowy greenness poursN
And onward still like islands in that mainO
Loom the rough peaks of many a mountain chainO
Whence east and west a thousand waters runP
From winter lingering under summer's sunP
And still beyond long lines of foam and sandA
Tell where Pacific rolls his waves a landA
From many a wide lapped port and land locked bayQ
Opening with thunderous pomp the world's highwayQ
To Indian isles of spice and marts of far CathayQ
'Such ' said the Showman as the curtain fellR
'Is the new Canaan of our IsraelS
The land of promise to the swarming NorthT
Which hive like sends its annual surplus forthT
To the poor Southron on his worn out soilU
Scathed by the curses of unnatural toilU
To Europe's exiles seeking home and restA
And the lank nomads of the wandering WestA
Who asking neither in their love of changeV
And the free bison's amplitude of rangeV
Rear the log hut for present shelter meantA
Not future comfort like an Arab's tent 'E
Then spake a shrewd on looker 'Sir ' said heW
'I like your picture but I fain would seeW
A sketch of what your promised land will beW
When with electric nerve and fiery brainedA
With Nature's forces to its chariot chainedA
The future grasping by the past obeyedA
The twentieth century rounds a new decade 'E
Then said the Showman sadly 'He who grievesX
Over the scattering of the sibyl's leavesX
Unwisely mourns Suffice it that we knowI
What needs must ripen from the seed we sowY
That present time is but the mould whereinD
We cast the shapes of holiness and sinD
A painful watcher of the passing hourZ
Its lust of gold its strife for place and powerZ
Its lack of manhood honor reverence truthA2
Wise thoughted age and generous hearted youthA2
Nor yet unmindful of each better signL
The low far lights which on th' horizon shineL
Like those which sometimes tremble on the rimB2
Of clouded skies when day is closing dimB2
Flashing athwart the purple spears of rainO
The hope of sunshine on the hills againC2
I need no prophet's word nor shapes that passM
Like clouding shadows o'er a magic glassM
For now as ever passionless and coldA
Doth the dread angel of the future holdA
Evil and good before us with no voiceD2
Or warning look to guide us in our choiceD2
With spectral hands outreaching through the gloomE2
The shadowy contrasts of the coming doomE2
Transferred from these it now remains to giveF2
The sun and shade of Fate's alternative 'E
Then with a burst of music touching allK
The keys of thrifty life the mill stream's fallK
The engine's pant along its quivering railsG2
The anvil's ring the measured beat of flailsG2
The sweep of scythes the reaper's whistled tuneH2
Answering the summons of the bells of noonH2
The woodman's hail along the river shoresG2
The steamboat's signal and the dip of oarsG2
Slowly the curtain rose from off a landA
Fair as God's garden Broad on either handA
The golden wheat fields glimmered in the sunP
And the tall maize its yellow tassels spunP
Smooth highways set with hedge rows living greenI2
With steepled towns through shaded vistas seenI2
The school house murmuring with its hive like swarmJ2
The brook bank whitening in the grist mill's stormJ2
The painted farm house shining through the leavesG2
Of fruited orchards bending at its eavesG2
Where live again around the Western hearthK2
The homely old time virtues of the NorthT
Where the blithe housewife rises with the dayQ
And well paid labor counts his task a playQ
And grateful tokens of a Bible freeW
And the free Gospel of HumanityW
Of diverse sects and differing names the shrinesG2
One in their faith whate'er their outward signsG2
Like varying strophes of the same sweet hymnB2
From many a prairie's swell and river's brimB2
A thousand church spires sancify the airB
Of the calm Sabbath with their sign of prayerB
Like sudden nightfall over bloom and greenI2
The curtain dropped and momently betweenI2
The clank of fetter and the crack of thongL2
Half sob half laughter music swept alongL2
A strange refrain whose idle words and lowI
Like drunken mourners kept the time of woeI
As if the revellers at a masqueradeA
Heard in the distance funeral marches playedA
Such music dashing all his smiles with tearsG2
The thoughtful voyager on Ponchartrain hearsG2
Where through the noonday dusk of wooded shoresG2
The negro boatman singing to his oarsG2
With a wild pathos borrowed of his wrongL2
Redeems the jargon of his senseless songL2
'Look ' said the Showman sternly as he rolledA
His curtain upward 'Fate's reverse behold 'E
A village straggling in loose disarrayQ
Of vulgar newness premature decayQ
A tavern crazy with its whiskey brawlsG2
With 'Slaves at Auction ' garnishing its wallsG2
Without surrounded by a motley crowdA
The shrewd eyed salesman garrulous and loudA
A squire or colonel in his pride of placeG2
Known at free fights the caucus and the raceG2
Prompt to proclaim his honor without blotA
And silence doubters with a ten pace shotA
Mingling the negro driving bully's rantA
With pious phrase and democratic cantA
Yet never scrupling with a filthy jestA
To sell the infant from its mother's breastA
Break through all ties of wedlock home and kinD
Yield shrinking girlhood up to graybeard sinD
Sell all the virtues with his human stockM2
The Christian graces on his auction blockM2
And coolly count on shrewdest bargains drivenP
In hearts regenerate and in souls forgivenP
Look once again The moving canvas showsG2
A slave plantation's slovenly reposeG2
Where in rude cabins rotting midst their weedsG2
The human chattel eats and sleeps and breedsG2
And held a brute in practice as in lawN2
Becomes in fact the thing he's taken forO2
There early summoned to the hemp and cornP2
The nursing mother leaves her child new bornP2
There haggard sickness weak and deathly faintA
Crawls to his task and fears to make complainsG2
And sad eyed Rachels childless in decayQ
Weep for their lost ones sold and torn awayQ
Of ampler size the master's dwelling standsG2
In shabby keeping with his half tilled landsG2
The gates unhinged the yard with weeds uncleanI2
The cracked veranda with a tipsy leanI2
Without loose scattered like a wreck adriftA
Signs of misrule and tokens of unthriftA
Within profusion to discomfort joinedA
The listless body and the vacant mindA
The fear the hate the theft and falsehood bornP2
In menial hearts of toil and stripes and scornP2

John Greenleaf Whittier



Rate:
(1)



Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme

Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation


Write your comment about Aechdeacon Barbour poem by John Greenleaf Whittier


 

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 1 times,

This poem was added to the favorite list by 0 members,

This poem was voted by 0 members.

(* Interactions only in the last 7 days)

New Poems

Popular Poets