The Dream Of Ambition. From Proverbial Philosophy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIEFGJKBL BMFGNOPFQRSTUVWXYQZA 2PB2C2D2E2F2G2H2I2B2 J2K2I2L2B B| I LEFT the happy fields that smile around the village of Content | A |
| And sought with wayward feet the torrid desert of Ambition | B |
| Long time parched and weary I travelled that burning sand | C |
| And the hooded basilisk and adder were strewed in my way for palms | D |
| Black scorpions thronged me round with sharp uplifted stings | E |
| Seeming to mock me as I ran then I guessed it was a dream | F |
| But life is oft so like a dream we know not where we are | G |
| So I toiled on doubting in myself up a steep gravel cliff | H |
| Whose yellow summit shot up far into the brazen sky | I |
| And quickly I was wafted to the top as upon unseen wings | E |
| Carrying me upward like a leaf then I thought it was a dream | F |
| Yet life is oft so like a dream we know not where we are | G |
| So I stood on the moimtain and behold before me a giant pyramid | J |
| And I clomb with eager haste its high and difficult steps | K |
| For I longed like another Belus to mount up yea to heaven | B |
| Nor sought I rest until my feet had spurned the crest of earth | L |
| - | |
| Then I sat on my granite throne under the burning sun | B |
| And the world lay smiling beneath me but I was wrapt in flames | M |
| And I hoped in glimmering consciousness that all this torture was a dream | F |
| Yet life is oft so like a dream we know not where we are | G |
| And anon as I sat scorching the pyramid shuddered to its root | N |
| And I felt the quarried mass leap from its sand foundations | O |
| Awhile it tottered and tilted as raised by invisible levers | P |
| And now my reason spake with me I knew it was a dream | F |
| Yet I hushed that whisper into silence for I hoped to learn of wisdom | Q |
| By tracking up my truant thoughts whereunto they might lead | R |
| And suddenly as rolling upon wheels adown the cliff it rushed | S |
| And I thought in my hot brain of the Muscovites' icy slope | T |
| A thousand yards in a moment we ploughed the sandy seas | U |
| And crushed those happy fields and that smiling village | V |
| And onward as a living thing still rushed my mighty throne | W |
| Thundering along and pounding as it went the millions in my way | X |
| Before me all was life and joy and full blown summer | Y |
| Behind me death and woe the desert and simoom | Q |
| Then I wept and shrieked aloud for pity and for fear | Z |
| But might not stop for comet like flew on the maddened mass | A2 |
| Over the crashing cities and falling obelisks and towers | P |
| And columns razed as by a scythe and high domes shivered as an egg shell | B2 |
| And deep embattled ranks and women crowded in the streets | C2 |
| And children kneeling as for mercy and all I had ever loved | D2 |
| Yea over all mine awful throne rushed on with seeming instinct | E2 |
| And over the crackling forests and over the rugged beach | F2 |
| And on with a terrible hiss through the foaming wild Atlantic | G2 |
| That roared around me as I sat but could not quench my spirit | H2 |
| Still on through startled solitudes we shattered the pavement of the sea | I2 |
| Down down to that central vault the bolted doors of hell | B2 |
| And these with horrid shock my huge throne battered in | J2 |
| And on to the deepest deep where the fierce flames were hottest | K2 |
| Blazing tenfold as conquering furiously the seas that rushed in with me | I2 |
| And there I stopped and a fearful voice shouted in mine ear | L2 |
| Behold the home of Discontent behold the rest of Ambition | B |
| - | |
| - | |
| Transcribed from Proverbial Philosophy by Mick Puttock August Spelling punctuation and grammer left mostly unchanged from the th edition | B |
Martin Farquhar Tupper
(1)
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About The Dream Of Ambition. From Proverbial Philosophy
The Dream Of Ambition. From Proverbial Philosophy is a poem by Martin Farquhar Tupper. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.