Leo Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCD EFEF GHGI JBJBCD KHKH LMLM NKNK OPOP QRQR STST UVUV AWAWCD XJXJ YZYZ A2AA2A AFAF B2C2B2C2 D2E2D2E2 F2G2F2G2 H2PH2P AI2AI2 H2J2H2J2 WJWJ F2HF2H K2L2K2L2 M2GM2G N2TN2T F2L2F2L2I made a journey o'er the sea | A |
I bade my faithful dog good bye | B |
I knew that he would grieve for me | A |
But did not dream that he would die | B |
And how could I explain | C |
That I would come again | D |
- | |
At first he mourned as dogs will mourn | E |
A life long master they adore | F |
Till in his mind the fear was born | E |
That he should never see me more | F |
- | |
Ah then on every boat intent | G |
He watched the crowd upon the pier | H |
While every look and motion meant | G |
Will he not come Is he not here | I |
- | |
At last he merely raised his head | J |
To see the steamers passing by | B |
Then sank again upon his bed | J |
And heaved a long drawn plaintive sigh | B |
For how could one explain | C |
That I would come again | D |
- | |
I hastened back by sea and land | K |
Forced homeward by remorse and fear | H |
But no glad barking swept the strand | K |
Nor did he meet me on the pier | H |
- | |
I climbed the steps with footsteps fleet | L |
And then beheld him near the wall | M |
Though tottering still upon his feet | L |
And creeping toward me down the hall | M |
- | |
No wish had he to sulk or blame | N |
Nor did he need to understand | K |
But simply loved me just the same | N |
In silence licking face and hand | K |
- | |
In silence What could this portend | O |
Such muteness he had never shown | P |
Was he so very near the end | O |
Ah Leo had I only known | P |
- | |
For his grand eyes so large and bright | Q |
Though turned through sound my form to find | R |
Were totally devoid of sight | Q |
He faced me in the darkness blind | R |
- | |
What could such gloom have been to him | S |
As weeks and months had crept away | T |
While all the outer world grew dim | S |
Till endless night eclipsed the day | T |
- | |
What had it meant to him to wake | U |
And mid familiar things to grope | V |
To hear old sounds on shore and lake | U |
Yet wander darkly without hope | V |
- | |
But now his head upon my knee | A |
He tried in various ways to show | W |
That though my face he could not see | A |
He knew the voice of long ago | W |
Yes now it was quite plain | C |
That I had come again | D |
- | |
Within my arms he breathed his last | X |
In my embrace his noble head | J |
Drooped back and left to me the Past | X |
With tender memories of the dead | J |
- | |
He lies beneath the stately trees | Y |
Whose ample shade he loved the best | Z |
Mid flowers whose perfume every breeze | Y |
Wafts lightly o'er his place of rest | Z |
- | |
Yet somehow still I watch and wait | A2 |
For him as he once watched for me | A |
At every footstep near my gate | A2 |
I look his bounding form to see | A |
- | |
Good night Good bye for I must leave thee | A |
My boat is waiting on the shore | F |
May I not hope that it will grieve thee | A |
When thou shalt see me here no more | F |
- | |
Such thoughts I know to day are flouted | B2 |
Have statues souls the cynic sneers | C2 |
But I am happier to have doubted | B2 |
And loved thee thus these many years | C2 |
- | |
Behind the form is the ideal | D2 |
Forever high forever true | E2 |
Behind the false exists the real | D2 |
Known only to the favored few | E2 |
- | |
Not all can hear the music stealing | F2 |
From out that lightly lifted flute | G2 |
To those devoid of kindred feeling | F2 |
Its melody is always mute | G2 |
- | |
But thou to me hast been a token | H2 |
Of classic legend wrought in stone | P |
In thee the thread of Art unbroken | H2 |
Made all the storied past mine own | P |
- | |
And I have felt still brooding o'er thee | A |
The old time Genius of the Place | I2 |
Aware of those who still adore thee | A |
Unchanged by time or creed or race | I2 |
- | |
Through thee came also inspiration | H2 |
For many a rare poetic thought | J2 |
And oh how much of resignation | H2 |
Thy sweet unchanging smile hath taught | J2 |
- | |
Though thine own past hath had its sorrow | W |
Though all thy sylvan friends have fled | J |
Thou still canst smile at every morrow | W |
For Nature lives though Pan is dead | J |
- | |
Thou didst not grieve with futile wailing | F2 |
When altars crumbled far and near | H |
When gods were scoffed and faith was failing | F2 |
And worship lessened year by year | H |
- | |
Above thee still rose lofty mountains | K2 |
Before thee lay the lake divine | L2 |
Around thee sang the crystal fountains | K2 |
With all these treasures why repine | L2 |
- | |
Religions changed and shrines were banished | M2 |
Years slipped away men came and went | G |
But thou whatever pleasures vanished | M2 |
With what thou hadst wast still content | G |
- | |
Not thine our fatal strain of sadness | N2 |
As cherished fancies fade away | T |
For thee the simple soul of gladness | N2 |
The careless rapture of to day | T |
- | |
Farewell within my heart abiding | F2 |
I hear thy music gentle Faun | L2 |
The wounds of disillusion hiding | F2 |
The prelude to a happier dawn | L2 |
John L. Stoddard
(1)
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