The Captain-s Well Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AB CC DD EF G H II J K LL M NO PP GG QQ RR SS TT FE UU BA GG VV UU WW XX UU YY ZZ UU A2A2 NO BA X U UU SB2 C2C2 U UU UU D2D2 UU E2E2 UU UU PP Y| From pain and peril by land and main | A |
| The shipwrecked sailor came back again | B |
| - | |
| And like one from the dead the threshold cross'd | C |
| Of his wondering home that had mourned him lost | C |
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| Where he sat once more with his kith and kin | D |
| And welcomed his neighbors thronging in | D |
| - | |
| But when morning came he called for his spade | E |
| 'I must pay my debt to the Lord ' he said | F |
| - | |
| 'Why dig you here ' asked the passer by | G |
| 'Is there gold or silver the road so nigh ' | - |
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| 'No friend ' he answered 'but under this sod | H |
| Is the blessed water the wine of God ' | - |
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| 'Water the Powow is at your back | I |
| And right before you the Merrimac | I |
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| 'And look you up or look you down | J |
| There 's a well sweep at every door in town ' | - |
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| 'True ' he said 'we have wells of our own | K |
| But this I dig for the Lord alone ' | - |
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| Said the other 'This soil is dry you know | L |
| I doubt if a spring can be found below | L |
| - | |
| 'You had better consult before you dig | M |
| Some water witch with a hazel twig ' | - |
| - | |
| 'No wet or dry I will dig it here | N |
| Shallow or deep if it takes a year | O |
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| 'In the Arab desert where shade is none | P |
| The waterless land of sand and sun | P |
| - | |
| 'Under the pitiless brazen sky | G |
| My burning throat as the sand was dry | G |
| - | |
| 'My crazed brain listened in fever dreams | Q |
| For plash of buckets and ripple of streams | Q |
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| 'And opening my eyes to the blinding glare | R |
| And my lips to the breath of the blistering air | R |
| - | |
| 'Tortured alike by the heavens and earth | S |
| I cursed like Job the day of my birth | S |
| - | |
| 'Then something tender and sad and mild | T |
| As a mother's voice to her wandering child | T |
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| 'Rebuked my frenzy and bowing my head | F |
| I prayed as I never before had prayed | E |
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| 'Pity me God for I die of thirst | U |
| Take me out of this land accurst | U |
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| 'And if ever I reach my home again | B |
| Where earth has springs and the sky has rain | A |
| - | |
| 'I will dig a well for the passers by | G |
| And none shall suffer from thirst as I | G |
| - | |
| 'I saw as I prayed my home once more | V |
| The house the barn the elms by the door | V |
| - | |
| 'The grass lined road that riverward wound | U |
| The tall slate stones of the burying ground | U |
| - | |
| 'The belfry and steeple on meeting house hill | W |
| The brook with its dam and gray grist mill | W |
| - | |
| 'And I knew in that vision beyond the sea | X |
| The very place where my well must be | X |
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| 'God heard my prayer in that evil day | U |
| He led my feet in their homeward way | U |
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| 'From false mirage and dried up well | Y |
| And the hot sand storms of a land of hell | Y |
| - | |
| 'Till I saw at last through the coast hill's gap | Z |
| A city held in its stony lap | Z |
| - | |
| 'The mosques and the domes of scorched Muscat | U |
| And my heart leaped up with joy thereat | U |
| - | |
| 'For there was a ship at anchor lying | A2 |
| A Christian flag at its mast head flying | A2 |
| - | |
| 'And sweetest of sounds to my homesick ear | N |
| Was my native tongue in the sailor's cheer | O |
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| 'Now the Lord be thanked I am back again | B |
| Where earth has springs and the skies have rain | A |
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| 'And the well I promised by Oman's Sea | X |
| I am digging for him in Amesbury ' | - |
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| His kindred wept and his neighbors said | U |
| 'The poor old captain is out of his head ' | - |
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| But from morn to noon and from noon to night | U |
| He toiled at his task with main and might | U |
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| And when at last from the loosened earth | S |
| Under his spade the stream gushed forth | B2 |
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| And fast as he climbed to his deep well's brim | C2 |
| The water he dug for followed him | C2 |
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| He shouted for joy 'I have kept my word | U |
| And here is the well I promised the Lord ' | - |
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| The long years came and the long years went | U |
| And he sat by his roadside well content | U |
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| He watched the travellers heat oppressed | U |
| Pause by the way to drink and rest | U |
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| And the sweltering horses dip as they drank | D2 |
| Their nostrils deep in the cool sweet tank | D2 |
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| And grateful at heart his memory went | U |
| Back to that waterless Orient | U |
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| And the blessed answer of prayer which came | E2 |
| To the earth of iron and sky of flame | E2 |
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| And when a wayfarer weary and hot | U |
| Kept to the mid road pausing not | U |
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| For the well's refreshing he shook his head | U |
| 'He don't know the value of water ' he said | U |
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| 'Had he prayed for a drop as I have done | P |
| In the desert circle of sand and sun | P |
| - | |
| 'He would drink and rest and go home to tell | Y |
| That God's best gift is the wayside well ' | - |
John Greenleaf Whittier
(1)
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