St. John. 1647 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEDDD FGHGIJHJ FKLKDMNM EOAOPDLD FQNQRDSD TDNDUVA WXYXZDAD A2B2C2B2DD2D2D2 DDL AE2F2E2 DOG2OH2I2G2I2 J2QL DD2D D2DD2DK2F2L2F2 KOAODDAD FDA DM2 H2H2AH2N2O2I2 DP2D2P2WDN2D Q2R2D2R2S2DF2 PT2DT2LDU2D

'To the winds give our bannerA
Bear homeward again 'B
Cried the Lord of AcadiaC
Cried Charles of EstienneD
From the prow of his shallopE
He gazed as the sunD
From its bed in the oceanD
Streamed up the St JohnD
-
O'er the blue western watersF
That shallop had passedG
Where the mists of PenobscotH
Clung damp on her mastG
St Saviour had lookedI
On the heretic sailJ
As the songs of the HuguenotH
Rose on the galeJ
-
The pale ghostly fathersF
Remembered her wellK
And had cursed her while passingL
With taper and bellK
But the men of MonheganD
Of Papists abhorredM
Had welcomed and feastedN
The heretic LordM
-
They had loaded his shallopE
With dun fish and ballO
With stores for his larderA
And steel for his wallO
Pemaquid from her bastionsP
And turrets of stoneD
Had welcomed his comingL
With banner and gunD
-
And the prayers of the eldersF
Had followed his wayQ
As homeward he glidedN
Down Pentecost BayQ
Oh well sped La TourR
For in peril and painD
His lady kept watchS
For his coming againD
-
O'er the Isle of the PheasantT
The morning sun shoneD
On the plane trees which shadedN
The shores of St JohnD
'Now why from yon battlementsU
Speaks not my loveV
Why waves there no bannerA
My fortress above '-
-
Dark and wild from his deckW
St Estienne gazed aboutX
On fire wasted dwellingsY
And silent redoubtX
From the low shattered wallsZ
Which the flame had o'errunD
There floated no bannerA
There thundered no gunD
-
But beneath the low archA2
Of its doorway there stoodB2
A pale priest of RomeC2
In his cloak and his hoodB2
With the bound of a lionD
La Tour sprang to landD2
On the throat of the PapistD2
He fastened his handD2
-
'Speak son of the WomanD
Of scarlet and sinD
What wolf has been prowlingL
My castle within '-
From the grasp of the soldierA
The Jesuit brokeE2
Half in scorn half in sorrowF2
He smiled as he spokeE2
-
'No wolf Lord of EstienneD
Has ravaged thy hallO
But thy red handed rivalG2
With fire steel and ballO
On an errand of mercyH2
I hitherward cameI2
While the walls of thy castleG2
Yet spouted with flameI2
-
'Pentagoet's dark vesselsJ2
Were moored in the bayQ
Grim sea lions roaringL
Aloud for their prey '-
'But what of my lady '-
Cried Charles of EstienneD
'On the shot crumbled turretD2
Thy lady was seenD
-
'Half veiled in the smoke cloudD2
Her hand grasped thy pennonD
While her dark tresses swayedD2
In the hot breath of cannonD
But woe to the hereticK2
Evermore woeF2
When the son of the churchL2
And the cross is his foeF2
-
'In the track of the shellK
In the path of the ballO
Pentagoet swept overA
The breach of the wallO
Steel to steel gun to gunD
One moment and thenD
Alone stood the victorA
Alone with his menD
-
'Of its sturdy defendersF
Thy lady aloneD
Saw the cross blazoned bannerA
Float over St John '-
'Let the dastard look to it '-
Cried fiery EstienneD
'Were D'Aulnay King LouisM2
I'd free her again '-
-
'Alas for thy ladyH2
No service from theeH2
Is needed by herA
Whom the Lord hath set freeH2
Nine days in stern silenceN2
Her thraldom she boreO2
But the tenth morning cameI2
And Death opened her door '-
-
As if suddenly smittenD
La Tour staggered backP2
His hand grasped his sword hiltD2
His forehead grew blackP2
He sprang on the deckW
Of his shallop againD
'We cruise now for vengeanceN2
Give way ' cried EstienneD
-
'Massachusetts shall hearQ2
Of the Huguenot's wrongR2
And from island and creeksideD2
Her fishers shall throngR2
Pentagoet shall rueS2
What his Papists have doneD
When his palisades echoF2
The Puritan's gun '-
-
Oh the loveliest of heavensP
Hung tenderly o'er himT2
There were waves in the sunshineD
And green isles before himT2
But a pale hand was beckoningL
The Huguenot onD
And in blackness and ashesU2
Behind was St JohnD

John Greenleaf Whittier



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