Rantoul Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAC DEDE FAFA GHGH IJIJ KLKL MNON PQPQ RSSS STSS USUS VWVW XYXY SZSZ A2SA2S B2C2B2B2 SD2SD2 B2E2B2E2 AF2AF2 JG2JG2 D2AD2H2 SSSOne day along the electric wire | A |
His manly word for Freedom sped | B |
We came next morn that tongue of fire | A |
Said only 'He who spake is dead ' | C |
- | |
Dead while his voice was living yet | D |
In echoes round the pillared dome | E |
Dead while his blotted page lay wet | D |
With themes of state and loves of home | E |
- | |
Dead in that crowning grace of time | F |
That triumph of life's zenith hour | A |
Dead while we watched his manhood's prime | F |
Break from the slow bud into flower | A |
- | |
Dead he so great and strong and wise | G |
While the mean thousands yet drew breath | H |
How deepened through that dread surprise | G |
The mystery and the awe of death | H |
- | |
From the high place whereon our votes | I |
Had borne him clear calm earnest fell | J |
His first words like the prelude notes | I |
Of some great anthem yet to swell | J |
- | |
We seemed to see our flag unfurled | K |
Our champion waiting in his place | L |
For the last battle of the world | K |
The Armageddon of the race | L |
- | |
Through him we hoped to speak the word | M |
Which wins the freedom of a land | N |
And lift for human right the sword | O |
Which dropped from Hampden's dying hand | N |
- | |
For he had sat at Sidney's feet | P |
And walked with Pym and Vane apart | Q |
And through the centuries felt the beat | P |
Of Freedom's march in Cromwell's heart | Q |
- | |
He knew the paths the worthies held | R |
Where England's best and wisest trod | S |
And lingering drank the springs that welled | S |
Beneath the touch of Milton's rod | S |
- | |
No wild enthusiast of the right | S |
Self poised and clear he showed alway | T |
The coolness of his northern night | S |
The ripe repose of autumn's day | S |
- | |
His steps were slow yet forward still | U |
He pressed where others paused or failed | S |
The calm star clomb with constant will | U |
The restless meteor flashed and paled | S |
- | |
Skilled in its subtlest wile he knew | V |
And owned the higher ends of Law | W |
Still rose majestic on his view | V |
The awful Shape the schoolman saw | W |
- | |
Her home the heart of God her voice | X |
The choral harmonies whereby | Y |
The stars through all their spheres rejoice | X |
The rhythmic rule of earth and sky | Y |
- | |
We saw his great powers misapplied | S |
To poor ambitions yet through all | Z |
We saw him take the weaker side | S |
And right the wronged and free the thrall | Z |
- | |
Now looking o'er the frozen North | A2 |
For one like him in word and act | S |
To call her old free spirit forth | A2 |
And give her faith the life of fact | S |
- | |
To break her party bonds of shame | B2 |
And labor with the zeal of him | C2 |
To make the Democratic name | B2 |
Of Liberty the synonyme | B2 |
- | |
We sweep the land from hill to strand | S |
We seek the strong the wise the brave | D2 |
And sad of heart return to stand | S |
In silence by a new made grave | D2 |
- | |
There where his breezy hills of home | B2 |
Look out upon his sail white seas | E2 |
The sounds of winds and waters come | B2 |
And shape themselves to words like these | E2 |
- | |
'Why murmuring mourn that he whose power | A |
Was lent to Party over long | F2 |
Heard the still whisper at the hour | A |
He set his foot on Party wrong | F2 |
- | |
'The human life that closed so well | J |
No lapse of folly now can stain | G2 |
The lips whence Freedom's protest fell | J |
No meaner thought can now profane | G2 |
- | |
'Mightier than living voice his grave | D2 |
That lofty protest utters o'er | A |
Through roaring wind and smiting wave | D2 |
It speaks his hate of wrong once more | H2 |
- | |
'Men of the North your weak regret | S |
Is wasted here arise and pay | S |
To freedom and to him your debt | S |
By following where he led the way ' | - |
John Greenleaf Whittier
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