I Arise And Go Down To The River Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIAA AAJJ KKLM NNJJ OOPP HHQQ RRAA| I arise and go down to the River and currents that come from the sea | A |
| Still fresh with the salt of the ocean are lovely and precious to me | A |
| The waters are silver and silent except where the kingfisher dips | B |
| Or the ripples wash off from my shoulder the reddening stain of thy lips | B |
| - | |
| Two things make my joy at this moment thy gold coloured beauty by night | C |
| And the delicate charm of the River all pale in the day breaking light | C |
| So cool are the waters' caresses Ah which is the lovelier this | D |
| Or the fire that it kindles at midnight beneath the soft glow of thy kiss | D |
| - | |
| Ah Love has a mighty dominion he forges with passionate breath | E |
| The links which stretch out to the Future with forces of life and of death | E |
| But great is the charm of the River so soft is the sigh of the reeds | F |
| They give me long sleepless from passion the peace that my weariness needs | F |
| - | |
| I float on the breast of my River and startle the birds on the edge | G |
| To land on a newly found island a boat that is caught in the sedge | G |
| The rays of the sun are still level not yet has the heat of the day | H |
| Deflowered the mists of the morning that linger in delicate grey | H |
| - | |
| What land was his dwelling whose fancy first gave unto Paradise birth | I |
| He never had swum in my River or else he had fixed it on earth | I |
| Oh grace of the palm tree reflections Oh sense of the wind from the sea | A |
| Oh divine and serene exultation of one who is lonely and free | A |
| - | |
| Ah delicate breezes of daybreak so scentless refreshing and free | A |
| And yet had my midnight been lonely you had been less lovely to me | A |
| This coolness comes laden with solace because I am hot from the fire | J |
| As often devotion to virtue arises from sated desire | J |
| - | |
| Gautama came forth from his Palace he felt the night wind on his face | K |
| He loathed as he left the embraces the softness and scent of the place | K |
| But ah if his night had been loveless with no one to solace his need | L |
| He never had written that sermon which men so devotedly read | M |
| - | |
| Ah River thy gentle persuasion I doubt if I seek any more | N |
| The beauty that hurts me and holds me beneath the low roof on the shore | N |
| I loved thee ay loved for a season but thou was it love or desire | J |
| The glow of the Sun in his glory or only the heat of a fire | J |
| - | |
| I think not that thou wilt regret me for thou art too joyous and fair | O |
| So many are keen to caress thee thy passionate midnights to share | O |
| Thou wilt not have time to remember before a new love knot is tied | P |
| The stranger who loved thee and left thee who drifted away on the tide | P |
| - | |
| Two things I have found that are lovely though most things are sullen and grey | H |
| One Peace but what mortal has found him and Passion but when would he stay | H |
| So I shall return to my River and floating at ease on its breast | Q |
| Shall find what Love never has given a sense of most infinite rest | Q |
| - | |
| When the years have gone by and departed what thought shall I keep of this land | R |
| A curl of thy waist reaching tresses a flower received from thy hand | R |
| Nay if I can fathom the future I fancy my relic will be | A |
| Some shell my beloved one the River has stol'n from the store of the sea | A |
Laurence Hope (adela Florence Cory Nicolson)
(2)
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