Birchbrook Mill Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCB CDED FGHG IJKL MNOP QRSR TUVU WIXI TCFY ZGA2G B2KCK YC2D2C2 IOE2O F2C2G2C2 EH2I2H2 J2GK2G

A NOTELESS stream the Birchbrook runsA
Beneath its leaning treesB
That low soft ripple is its ownC
That dull roar is the sea'sB
-
Of human signs it sees aloneC
The distant church spire's tipD
And ghost like on a blank of grayE
The white sail of a shipD
-
No more a toiler at the wheelF
It wanders at its willG
Nor dam nor pond is left to tellH
Where once was Birchbrook millG
-
The timbers of that mill have fedI
Long since a farmer's firesJ
His doorsteps are the stones that groundK
The harvest of his siresL
-
Man trespassed here but Nature lostM
No right of her domainN
She waited and she brought the oldO
Wild beauty back againP
-
By day the sunlight through the leavesQ
Falls on its moist green sodR
And wakes the violet bloom of springS
And autumn's golden rodR
-
Its birches whisper to the windT
The swallow dips her wingsU
In the cool spray and on its banksV
The gray song sparrow singsU
-
But from it when the dark night fallsW
The school girl shrinks with dreadI
The farmer home bound from his fieldsX
Goes by with quickened treadI
-
They dare not pause to hear the grindT
Of shadowy stone on stoneC
The plashing of a water wheelF
Where wheel there now is noneY
-
Has not a cry of pain been heardZ
Above the clattering millG
The pawing of an unseen horseA2
Who waits his mistress stillG
-
Yet never to the listener's eyeB2
Has sight confirmed the soundK
A wavering birch line marks aloneC
The vacant pasture groundK
-
No ghostly arms fling up to heavenY
The agony of prayerC2
No spectral steed impatient shakesD2
His white mane on the airC2
-
The meaning of that common dreadI
No tongue has fitly toldO
The secret of the dark surmiseE2
The brook and birches holdO
-
What nameless horror of the pastF2
Broods here forevermoreC2
What ghost his unforgiven sinG2
Is grinding o'er and o'erC2
-
Does then immortal memory playE
The actor's tragic partH2
Rehearsals of a mortal lifeI2
And unveiled human heartH2
-
God's pity spare a guilty soulJ2
That drama of its illG
And let the scenic curtain fallK2
On Birchbrook's haunted millG

John Greenleaf Whittier



Rate:
(1)



Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme

Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation

About Birchbrook Mill

Birchbrook Mill is a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.



Write your comment about Birchbrook Mill poem by John Greenleaf Whittier


 

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 20 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