The Landmarks Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABB CC DE FF GG HH BB DD II JJ KK LL MM NN C FO PP Q LL RR FF ST UU V AWW XY ZA2 B2B2 FF CC BB C2C2 D2D2 E2E2 F2G2 H2H2 I2I2 I2I2 J2J2 J2J2 I2I2 K2K2 DD L2L2 A2A2 K2K2 J2J2 M2| I | A |
| THROUGH the streets of Marblehead | B |
| Fast the red winged terror sped | B |
| - | |
| Blasting withering on it came | C |
| With its hundred tongues of flame | C |
| - | |
| Where St Michael's on its way | D |
| Stood like chained Andromeda | E |
| - | |
| Waiting on the rock like her | F |
| Swift doom or deliverer | F |
| - | |
| Church that after sea moss grew | G |
| Over walls no longer new | G |
| - | |
| Counted generations five | H |
| Four entombed and one alive | H |
| - | |
| Heard the martial thousand tread | B |
| Battleward from Marblehead | B |
| - | |
| Saw within the rock walled bay | D |
| Treville's liked pennons play | D |
| - | |
| And the fisher's dory met | I |
| By the barge of Lafayette | I |
| - | |
| Telling good news in advance | J |
| Of the coming fleet of France | J |
| - | |
| Church to reverend memories dear | K |
| Quaint in desk and chandelier | K |
| - | |
| Bell whose century rusted tongue | L |
| Burials tolled and bridals rung | L |
| - | |
| Loft whose tiny organ kept | M |
| Keys that Snetzler's hand had swept | M |
| - | |
| Altar o'er whose tablet old | N |
| Sinai's law its thunders rolled | N |
| - | |
| Suddenly the sharp cry came | C |
| 'Look St Michael's is aflame ' | - |
| - | |
| Round the low tower wall the fire | F |
| Snake like wound its coil of ire | O |
| - | |
| Sacred in its gray respect | P |
| From the jealousies of sect | P |
| - | |
| 'Save it ' seemed the thought of all | Q |
| 'Save it though our roof trees fall ' | - |
| - | |
| Up the tower the young men sprung | L |
| One the bravest outward swung | L |
| - | |
| By the rope whose kindling strands | R |
| Smoked beneath the holder's hands | R |
| - | |
| Smiting down with strokes of power | F |
| Burning fragments from the tower | F |
| - | |
| Then the gazing crowd beneath | S |
| Broke the painful pause of breath | T |
| - | |
| Brave men cheered from street to street | U |
| With home's ashes at their feet | U |
| - | |
| Houseless women kerchiefs waved | V |
| 'Thank the Lord St Michael's saved ' | - |
| - | |
| II | A |
| In the heart of Boston town | W |
| Stands the church of old renown | W |
| - | |
| From whose walls the impulse went | X |
| Which set free a continent | Y |
| - | |
| From whose pulpit's oracle | Z |
| Prophecies of freedom fell | A2 |
| - | |
| And whose steeple rocking din | B2 |
| Rang the nation's birth day in | B2 |
| - | |
| Standing at this very hour | F |
| Perilled like St Michael's tower | F |
| - | |
| Held not in the clasp of flame | C |
| But by mammon's grasping claim | C |
| - | |
| Shall it be of Boston said | B |
| She is shamed by Marblehead | B |
| - | |
| City of our pride as there | C2 |
| Hast thou none to do and dare | C2 |
| - | |
| Life was risked for Michael's shrine | D2 |
| Shall not wealth be staked for thine | D2 |
| - | |
| Woe to thee when men shall search | E2 |
| Vainly for the Old South Church | E2 |
| - | |
| When from Neck to Boston Stone | F2 |
| All thy pride of place is gone | G2 |
| - | |
| When from Bay and railroad car | H2 |
| Stretched before them wide and far | H2 |
| - | |
| Men shall only see a great | I2 |
| Wilderness of brick and slate | I2 |
| - | |
| Every holy spot o'erlaid | I2 |
| By the commonplace of trade | I2 |
| - | |
| City of our love' to thee | J2 |
| Duty is but destiny | J2 |
| - | |
| True to all thy record saith | J2 |
| Keep with thy traditions faith | J2 |
| - | |
| Ere occasion's overpast | I2 |
| Hold its flowing forelock fast | I2 |
| - | |
| Honor still the precedents | K2 |
| Of a grand munificence | K2 |
| - | |
| In thy old historic way | D |
| Give as thou didst yesterday | D |
| - | |
| At the South land's call or on | L2 |
| Need's demand from fired St John | L2 |
| - | |
| Set thy Church's muffled bell | A2 |
| Free the generous deed to tell | A2 |
| - | |
| Let thy loyal hearts rejoice | K2 |
| In the glad sonorous voice | K2 |
| - | |
| Ringing from the brazen mouth | J2 |
| Of the bell of the Old South | J2 |
| - | |
| Ringing clearly with a will | M2 |
| 'What she was is Boston still ' | - |
John Greenleaf Whittier
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Landmarks poem by John Greenleaf Whittier
Best Poems of John Greenleaf Whittier