The Negro Girl Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCBCDD A EFEGHH A IJIJEE C KLKLBB C MCMCJJ C ENEOCC C PQPQRR C CSSSTT C RRRRUU C CRCRCC C SVSWRR C RCRCCC C RCRCCC C CXCXEE C RCRCPP C RYRZCC C CRCRCC C XA2XA2CC C B2RB2RSS C RCRCC2C2 C RSRSCCI | A |
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Dark was the dawn and o'er the deep | B |
The boist'rous whirlwinds blew | C |
The Sea bird wheel'd its circling sweep | B |
And all was drear to view | C |
When on the beach that binds the western shore | D |
The love lorn ZELMA stood list'ning the tempest's roar | D |
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II | A |
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Her eager Eyes beheld the main | E |
While on her DRACO dear | F |
She madly call'd but call'd in vain | E |
No sound could DRACO hear | G |
Save the shrill yelling of the fateful blast | H |
While ev'ry Seaman's heart quick shudder'd as it past | H |
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III | A |
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White were the billows wide display'd | I |
The clouds were black and low | J |
The Bittern shriek'd a gliding shade | I |
Seem'd o'er the waves to go | J |
The livid flash illum'd the clam'rous main | E |
While ZELMA pour'd unmark'd her melancholy strain | E |
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IV | C |
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Be still she cried loud tempest cease | K |
O spare the gallant souls | L |
The thunder rolls the winds increase | K |
The Sea like mountains rolls | L |
While from the deck the storm worn victims leap | B |
And o'er their struggling limbs the furious billows sweep | B |
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V | C |
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O barb'rous Pow'r relentless Fate | M |
Does Heav'n's high will decree | C |
That some should sleep on beds of state | M |
Some in the roaring Sea | C |
Some nurs'd in splendour deal Oppression's blow | J |
While worth and DRACO pine in Slavery and woe | J |
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VI | C |
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Yon Vessel oft has plough'd the main | E |
With human traffic fraught | N |
Its cargo our dark Sons of pain | E |
For worldly treasure bought | O |
What had they done O Nature tell me why | C |
Is taunting scorn the lot of thy dark progeny | C |
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VII | C |
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Thou gav'st in thy caprice the Soul | P |
Peculiarly enshrin'd | Q |
Nor from the ebon Casket stole | P |
The Jewel of the mind | Q |
Then wherefore let the suff'ring Negro's breast | R |
Bow to his fellow MAN in brighter colours drest | R |
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VIII | C |
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Is it the dim and glossy hue | C |
That marks him for despair | S |
While men with blood their hands embrue | S |
And mock the wretch's pray'r | S |
Shall guiltless Slaves the Scourge of tyrants feel | T |
And e'en before their GOD unheard unpitied kneel | T |
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IX | C |
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Could the proud rulers of the land | R |
Our Sable race behold | R |
Some bow'd by torture's Giant hand | R |
And others basely sold | R |
Then would they pity Slaves and cry with shame | U |
Whate'er their TINTS may be their SOULS are still the same | U |
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X | C |
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Why seek to mock the Ethiop's face | C |
Why goad our hapless kind | R |
Can features alienate the race | C |
Is there no kindred mind | R |
Does not the cheek which vaunts the roseate hue | C |
Oft blush for crimes that Ethiops never knew | C |
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XI | C |
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Behold the angry waves conspire | S |
To check the barb'rous toil | V |
While wounded Nature's vengeful ire | S |
Roars round this trembling Isle | W |
And hark her voice re echoes in the wind | R |
Man was not form'd by Heav'n to trample on his kind | R |
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XII | C |
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Torn from my Mother's aching breast | R |
My Tyrant sought my love | C |
But in the Grave shall ZELMA rest | R |
E'er she will faithless prove | C |
No DRACO Thy companion I will be | C |
To that celestial realm where Negros shall be free | C |
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XIII | C |
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The Tyrant WHITE MAN taught my mind | R |
The letter'd page to trace | C |
He taught me in the Soul to find | R |
No tint as in the face | C |
He bade my Reason blossom like the tree | C |
But fond affection gave the ripen'd fruits to thee | C |
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XIV | C |
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With jealous rage he mark'd my love | C |
He sent thee far away | X |
And prison'd in the plantain grove | C |
Poor ZELMA pass'd the day | X |
But ere the moon rose high above the main | E |
ZELMA and Love contriv'd to break the Tyrant's chain | E |
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XV | C |
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Swift o'er the plain of burning Sand | R |
My course I bent to thee | C |
And soon I reach'd the billowy strand | R |
Which bounds the stormy Sea | C |
DRACO my Love Oh yet thy ZELMA'S soul | P |
Springs ardently to thee impatient of controul | P |
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XVI | C |
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Again the lightning flashes white | R |
The rattling cords among | Y |
Now by the transient vivid light | R |
I mark the frantic throng | Z |
Now up the tatter'd shrouds my DRACO flies | C |
While o'er the plunging prow the curling billows rise | C |
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XVII | C |
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The topmast falls three shackled slaves | C |
Cling to the Vessel's side | R |
Now lost amid the madd'ning waves | C |
Now on the mast they ride | R |
See on the forecastle my DRACO stands | C |
And now he waves his chain now clasps his bleeding hands | C |
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XVIII | C |
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Why cruel WHITE MAN when away | X |
My sable Love was torn | A2 |
Why did you let poor ZELMA stay | X |
On Afric's sands to mourn | A2 |
No ZELMA is not left for she will prove | C |
In the deep troubled main her fond her faithful LOVE | C |
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XIX | C |
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The lab'ring Ship was now a wreck | B2 |
The shrouds were flutt'ring wide | R |
The rudder gone the lofty deck | B2 |
Was rock'd from side to side | R |
Poor ZELMA'S eyes now dropp'd their last big tear | S |
While from her tawny cheek the blood recoil'd with fear | S |
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XX | C |
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Now frantic on the sands she roam'd | R |
Now shrieking stop'd to view | C |
Where high the liquid mountains foam'd | R |
Around the exhausted crew | C |
'Till from the deck her DRACO'S well known form | C2 |
Sprung mid the yawning waves and buffetted the Storm | C2 |
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XXI | C |
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Long on the swelling surge sustain'd | R |
Brave DRACO sought the shore | S |
Watch'd the dark Maid but ne'er complain'd | R |
Then sunk to gaze no more | S |
Poor ZELMA saw him buried by the wave | C |
And with her heart's true Love plung'd in a wat'ry grave | C |
Mary Darby Robinson
(1)
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