Chicago Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCC DEF GGHH IIJJ KKLL MMEE NNEE OPQQ RRSS TTPP| Men said at vespers 'All is well ' | A |
| In one wild night the city fell | B |
| Fell shrines of prayer and marts of gain | C |
| Before the fiery hurricane | C |
| - | |
| On threescore spires had sunset shone | D |
| Where ghastly sunrise looked on none | E |
| Men clasped each other's hands and said | F |
| 'The City of the West is dead ' | - |
| - | |
| Brave hearts who fought in slow retreat | G |
| The fiends of fire from street to street | G |
| Turned powerless to the blinding glare | H |
| The dumb defiance of despair | H |
| - | |
| A sudden impulse thrilled each wire | I |
| That signalled round that sea of fire | I |
| Swift words of cheer warm heart throbs came | J |
| In tears of pity died the flame | J |
| - | |
| From East from West from South and North | K |
| The messages of hope shot forth | K |
| And underneath the severing wave | L |
| The world full handed reached to save | L |
| - | |
| Fair seemed the old but fairer still | M |
| The new the dreary void shall fill | M |
| With dearer homes than those o'erthrown | E |
| For love shall lay each corner stone | E |
| - | |
| Rise stricken city from thee throw | N |
| The ashen sackcloth of thy woe | N |
| And build as to Amphion's strain | E |
| To songs of cheer thy walls again | E |
| - | |
| How shrivelled in thy hot distress | O |
| The primal sin of selfishness | P |
| How instant rose to take thy part | Q |
| The angel in the human heart | Q |
| - | |
| Ah not in vain the flames that tossed | R |
| Above thy dreadful holocaust | R |
| The Christ again has preached through thee | S |
| The Gospel of Humanity | S |
| - | |
| Then lift once more thy towers on high | T |
| And fret with spires the western sky | T |
| To tell that God is yet with us | P |
| And love is still miraculous | P |
John Greenleaf Whittier
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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