The Reformer Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJ KLKHMNMNLOLOPQPQRSRS TUTUSISIEVEVWXWXVYVY JJJJZJZJA2SA2SB2OB2O C2D2E2F2SOSOJG2JG2OB OH2SI2SI2| ALL grim and soiled and brown with tan | A |
| I saw a Strong One in his wrath | B |
| Smiting the godless shrines of man | A |
| Along his path | B |
| The Church beneath her trembling dome | C |
| Essayed in vain her ghostly charm | D |
| Wealth shook within his gilded home | C |
| With strange alarm | D |
| Fraud from his secret chambers fled | E |
| Before the sunlight bursting in | F |
| Sloth drew her pillow o'er her head | E |
| To drown the din | F |
| 'Spare ' Art implored 'yon holy pile | G |
| That grand old time worn turret spare ' | H |
| Meek Reverence kneeling in the aisle | G |
| Cried out 'Forbear ' | H |
| Gray bearded Use who deaf and blind | I |
| Groped for his old accustomed stone | J |
| Leaned on his staff and wept to find | I |
| His seat o'erthrown | J |
| Young Romance raised his dreamy eyes | K |
| O'erhung with paly locks of gold | L |
| 'Why smite ' he asked in sad surprise | K |
| 'The fair the old ' | H |
| Yet louder rang the Strong One's stroke | M |
| Yet nearer flashed his axe's gleam | N |
| Shuddering and sick of heart I woke | M |
| As from a dream | N |
| I looked aside the dust cloud rolled | L |
| The Waster seemed the Builder too | O |
| Upspringing from the ruined Old | L |
| I saw the New | O |
| 'T was but the ruin of the bad | P |
| The wasting of the wrong and ill | Q |
| Whate'er of good the old time had | P |
| Was living still | Q |
| Calm grew the brows of him I feared | R |
| The frown which awed me passed away | S |
| And left behind a smile which cheered | R |
| Like breaking day | S |
| The grain grew green on battle plains | T |
| O'er swarded war mounds grazed the cow | U |
| The slave stood forging from his chains | T |
| The spade and plough | U |
| Where frowned the fort pavilions gay | S |
| And cottage windows flower entwined | I |
| Looked out upon the peaceful bay | S |
| And hills behind | I |
| Through vine wreathed cups with wine once red | E |
| The lights on brimming crystal fell | V |
| Drawn sparkling from the rivulet head | E |
| And mossy well | V |
| Through prison walls like Heaven sent hope | W |
| Fresh breezes blew and sunbeams strayed | X |
| And with the idle gallows rope | W |
| The young child played | X |
| Where the doomed victim in his cell | V |
| Had counted o'er the weary hours | Y |
| Glad school girls answering to the bell | V |
| Came crowed with flowers | Y |
| Grown wiser for the lesson given | J |
| I fear no longer for I know | J |
| That where the share is deepest driven | J |
| The best fruits grow | J |
| The outworn rite the old abuse | Z |
| The pious fraud transparent grown | J |
| The good held captive in the use | Z |
| Of wrong alone | J |
| These wait their doom from that great law | A2 |
| Which makes the past time serve to day | S |
| And fresher life the world shall draw | A2 |
| From their decay | S |
| Oh backward looking son of time | B2 |
| The new is old the old is new | O |
| The cycle of a change sublime | B2 |
| Still sweeping through | O |
| So wisely taught the Indian seer | C2 |
| Destroying Seva forming Brahm | D2 |
| Who wake by turns Earth's love and fear | E2 |
| Are one the same | F2 |
| Idly as thou in that old day | S |
| Thou mournest did thy sire repine | O |
| So in his time thy child grown gray | S |
| Shall sigh for thine | O |
| But life shall on and upward go | J |
| Th' eternal step of Progress beats | G2 |
| To that great anthem calm and slow | J |
| Which God repeats | G2 |
| Take heart the Waster builds again | O |
| A charm d life old Goodness hath | B |
| The tares may perish but the grain | O |
| Is not for death | H2 |
| God works in all things all obey | S |
| His first propulsion from the night | I2 |
| Wake thou and watch the world is gray | S |
| With morning light | I2 |
John Greenleaf Whittier
(3)
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About The Reformer
The Reformer is a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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