Burning Drift-wood Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJII KLKL DMDM NONP QRQR STST UVUV WXWX YZYZ A2B2A2C2 D2E2D2E2 F2G2H2G2 I2J2I2J2 E2K2E2K2 L2PL2O M2N2O2N2 NE2NE2 BP2BP2| Before my drift wood fire I sit | A |
| And see with every waif I burn | B |
| Old dreams and fancies coloring it | A |
| And folly's unlaid ghosts return | B |
| - | |
| O ships of mine whose swift keels cleft | C |
| The enchanted sea on which they sailed | D |
| Are these poor fragments only left | C |
| Of vain desires and hopes that failed | D |
| - | |
| Did I not watch from them the light | E |
| Of sunset on my towers in Spain | F |
| And see far off uploom in sight | E |
| The Fortunate Isles I might not gain | F |
| - | |
| Did sudden lift of fog reveal | G |
| Arcadia's vales of song and spring | H |
| And did I pass with grazing keel | G |
| The rocks whereon the sirens sing | H |
| - | |
| Have I not drifted hard upon | I |
| The unmapped regions lost to man | J |
| The cloud pitched tents of Prester John | I |
| The palace domes of Kubla Khan | I |
| - | |
| Did land winds blow from jasmine flowers | K |
| Where Youth the ageless Fountain fills | L |
| Did Love make sign from rose blown bowers | K |
| And gold from Eldorado's hills | L |
| - | |
| Alas the gallant ships that sailed | D |
| On blind Adventure's errand sent | M |
| Howe'er they laid their courses failed | D |
| To reach the haven of Content | M |
| - | |
| And of my ventures those alone | N |
| Which Love had freighted safely sped | O |
| Seeking a good beyond my own | N |
| By clear eyed Duty piloted | P |
| - | |
| O mariners hoping still to meet | Q |
| The luck Arabian voyagers met | R |
| And find in Bagdad's moonlit street | Q |
| Haroun al Raschid walking yet | R |
| - | |
| Take with you on your Sea of Dreams | S |
| The fair fond fancies dear to youth | T |
| I turn from all that only seems | S |
| And seek the sober grounds of truth | T |
| - | |
| What matter that it is not May | U |
| That birds have flown and trees are bare | V |
| That darker grows the shortening day | U |
| And colder blows the wintry air | V |
| - | |
| The wrecks of passion and desire | W |
| The castles I no more rebuild | X |
| May fitly feed my drift wood fire | W |
| And warm the hands that age has chilled | X |
| - | |
| Whatever perished with my ships | Y |
| I only know the best remains | Z |
| A song of praise is on my lips | Y |
| For losses which are now my gains | Z |
| - | |
| Heap high my hearth No worth is lost | A2 |
| No wisdom with the folly dies | B2 |
| Burn on poor shreds your holocaust | A2 |
| Shall be my evening sacrifice | C2 |
| - | |
| Far more than all I dared to dream | D2 |
| Unsought before my door I see | E2 |
| On wings of fire and steeds of steam | D2 |
| The world's great wonders come to me | E2 |
| - | |
| And holier signs unmarked before | F2 |
| Of Love to seek and Power to save | G2 |
| The righting of the wronged and poor | H2 |
| The man evolving from the slave | G2 |
| - | |
| And life no longer chance or fate | I2 |
| Safe in the gracious Fatherhood | J2 |
| I fold o'er wearied hands and wait | I2 |
| In full assurance of the good | J2 |
| - | |
| And well the waiting time must be | E2 |
| Though brief or long its granted days | K2 |
| If Faith and Hope and Charity | E2 |
| Sit by my evening hearth fire's blaze | K2 |
| - | |
| And with them friends whom Heaven has spared | L2 |
| Whose love my heart has comforted | P |
| And sharing all my joys has shared | L2 |
| My tender memories of the dead | O |
| - | |
| Dear souls who left us lonely here | M2 |
| Bound on their last long voyage to whom | N2 |
| We day by day are drawing near | O2 |
| Where every bark has sailing room | N2 |
| - | |
| I know the solemn monotone | N |
| Of waters calling unto me | E2 |
| I know from whence the airs have blown | N |
| That whisper of the Eternal Sea | E2 |
| - | |
| As low my fires of drift wood burn | B |
| I hear that sea's deep sounds increase | P2 |
| And fair in sunset light discern | B |
| Its mirage lifted Isles of Peace | P2 |
John Greenleaf Whittier
(1)
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About Burning Drift-wood
Burning Drift-wood is a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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