Skipper Ireson's Ride Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCDEEFFE GGFFHHIIFF JJKKLLMNFF OOPPQQ IFFF LLFFRROOFFF FFOOFFIIFF FFSSQQLLFF FFTTPPF FFF R U VVTTFFF| Of all the rides since the birth of time | A |
| Told in story or sung in rhyme | A |
| On Apuleius' Golden Ass | B |
| Or one eyed Calendar's horse of brass | B |
| Witch astride of a human back | C |
| Islam's prophet on Al Borak | D |
| The strangest ride that ever was sped | E |
| Was Ireson's out from Marblehead | E |
| Old Floyd Ireson for his hard heart | F |
| Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart | F |
| By the women of Marblehead | E |
| - | |
| Body of turkey head of owl | G |
| Wings a droop like a rained on fowl | G |
| Feathered and ruffled in every part | F |
| Skipper Ireson stood in the cart | F |
| Scores of women old and young | H |
| Strong of muscle and glib of tongue | H |
| Pushed and pulled up the rocky lane | I |
| Shouting and singing the shrill refrain | I |
| 'Here's Flud Oirson fur his horrd horrt | F |
| Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt | F |
| By the women o' Morble'ead ' | - |
| - | |
| Wrinkled scolds with hands on hips | J |
| Girls in bloom of cheek and lips | J |
| Wild eyed free limbed such as chase | K |
| Bacchus round some antique vase | K |
| Brief of skirt with ankles bare | L |
| Loose of kerchief and loose of hair | L |
| With conch shells blowing and fish horns' twang | M |
| Over and over the Maenads sang | N |
| 'Here's Flud Oirson fur his horrd horrt | F |
| Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt | F |
| By the women o' Morble'ead ' | - |
| - | |
| Small pity for him He sailed away | O |
| From a leaking ship in Chaleur Bay | O |
| Sailed away from a sinking wreck | P |
| With his own town's people on her deck | P |
| 'Lay by lay by ' they called to him | Q |
| Back he answered 'Sink or swim | Q |
| Brag of your catch of fish again ' | - |
| And off he sailed through the fog and rain | I |
| Old Floyd Ireson for his hard heart | F |
| Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart | F |
| By the women of Marblehead | F |
| - | |
| Fathoms deep in dark Chaleur | L |
| That wreck shall lie forevermore | L |
| Mother and sister wife and maid | F |
| Looked from the rocks of Marblehead | F |
| Over the moaning and rainy sea | R |
| Looked for the coming that might not be | R |
| What did the winds and the sea birds say | O |
| Of the cruel captain who sailed away | O |
| Old Floyd Ireson for his hard heart | F |
| Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart | F |
| By the women of Marblehead | F |
| - | |
| Through the street on either side | F |
| Up flew windows doors swung wide | F |
| Sharp tongued spinsters old wives gray | O |
| Treble lent the fish horn's bray | O |
| Sea worn grandsires cripple bound | F |
| Hulks of old sailors run aground | F |
| Shook head and fist and hat and cane | I |
| And cracked with curses the hoarse refrain | I |
| 'Here's Flud Oirson fur his horrd horrt | F |
| Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt | F |
| By the women o' Morble'ead ' | - |
| - | |
| Sweetly along the Salem road | F |
| Bloom of orchard and lilac showed | F |
| Little the wicked skipper knew | S |
| Of the fields so green and the sky so blue | S |
| Riding there in his sorry trim | Q |
| Like an Indian idol glum and grim | Q |
| Scarcely he seemed the sound to hear | L |
| Of voices shouting far and near | L |
| 'Here's Flud Oirson fur his horrd horrt | F |
| Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt | F |
| By the women o' Morble'ead ' | - |
| - | |
| 'Hear me neighbors ' at last he cried | F |
| 'What to me is this noisy ride | F |
| What is the shame that clothes the skin | T |
| To the nameless horror that lives within | T |
| Waking or sleeping I see a wreck | P |
| And hear a cry from a reeling deck | P |
| Hate me and curse me I only dread | F |
| The hand of God and the face of the dead ' | - |
| Said old Floyd Ireson for his hard heart | F |
| Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart | F |
| By the women of Marblehead | F |
| - | |
| Then the wife of the skipper lost at sea | R |
| Said 'God has touched him why should we ' | - |
| Said an old wife mourning her only son | U |
| 'Cut the rogue's tether and let him run ' | - |
| So with soft relentings and rude excuse | V |
| Half scorn half pity they cut him loose | V |
| And gave him a cloak to hide him in | T |
| And left him alone with his shame and sin | T |
| Poor Floyd Ireson for his hard heart | F |
| Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart | F |
| By the women of Marblehead | F |
John Greenleaf Whittier
(1)
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