Poet John L. Stoddard

John L. Stoddard

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Before A Statue Of Buddha Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCB DEFE GHIH JKLM GNGN OPQP RSTS JUGU GLVL WGXG QYGY ZA2BB2 C2AZA C2D2E2D2 YF2ZF2 GG2GG2 GH2YH2 TI2GI2 YYJ2Y YYGY K2GGG GPGP

O Buddha of the mystic smileA
And downcast dreamful eyesB
To whom unnumbered sacred shrinesC
And gilded statues riseB
-
Whose fanes are filled with worshippersD
Whose hallowed name is sungE
By myriads of the human raceF
In every Eastern tongueE
-
What means thy sweet serenityG
Our planet as it rollsH
Sweeps through the starry universeI
A mass of burdened soulsH
-
Still agonized and pitifulJ
Despite the countless yearsK
That man has spent in wanderingL
Through paths of blood and tearsM
-
O Lord of love and sympathyG
For all created lifeN
How canst thou view thus placidlyG
The world's incessant strifeN
-
The misery and massacreO
Of war's destructive trainP
The martyrdom of animalsQ
The tragedy of painP
-
The infamous brutalitiesR
To helpless children shownS
The pathos of whose joyless livesT
Might melt a heart of stoneS
-
Preeminently mercifulJ
Does not thy spirit longU
To guard from inhumanityG
The weak against the strongU
-
Thou biddest us deal tenderlyG
With every breathing thingL
The horse that drags the heavy loadV
The bird upon the wingL
-
The flocks along the riversideW
The cattle on the leaG
And every living denizenX
Of earth and air and seaG
-
Yet daily in the shamblesQ
A sea of blood is spilledY
And man is nourished chieflyG
From beasts that he has killedY
-
And hunters still find happinessZ
In seeing red with woundsA2
A sobbing deer with liquid eyesB
Dragged down by yelping houndsB2
-
What is the real significanceC2
Of thine unchanging smileA
Hast thou the secret consciousnessZ
That grief is not worth whileA
-
That sorrow is the consequenceC2
Of former lives of sinD2
The spur that goads us on and upE2
A nobler life to winD2
-
That pain is as impermanentY
As shadows on the hillsF2
And that Nirvana's blessednessZ
Will cure all mortal illsF2
-
But agony is agonyG
And small is the reliefG2
If measured with eternityG
Life's anguish be but briefG2
-
To hearts that break with miseryG
To every tortured frameH2
The present pain is paramountY
Nirvana but a nameH2
-
Moreover why should former livesT
Bequeath their weight of woeI2
If with it comes no memoryG
To guide us as we goI2
-
If o'er the dark prenatal voidY
No mental bridge be castY
No thread however frail to linkJ2
The present to the pastY
-
Still silent and dispassionateY
Ah would that I might findY
The key to the serenityG
That fills thy lofty mindY
-
Thou hast a joy we do not feelK2
A light we cannot seeG
Injustice sin and wretchednessG
No longer sadden theeG
-
No doubt to thy sublimer gazeG
Life's mystery grows plainP
As finally full recompenseG
Atones for earthly painP

John L. Stoddard



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