Mycerinus Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABABCD EFEGHH IJIJCC KLKLHH MNMMHH HHHHCD IOIODD HMHMPP DKDKQQ RJRJSS ETEUVV HJHJWW XYXYH ZHA2HJMB2HC2HD2E2F2Z G2QH2MSMI2 YHJ2K2HYSCL2M2JMN2QH 2MMHMYXH MMO2XHY

'Not by the justice that my father spurn'dA
Not for the thousands whom my father slewB
Altars unfed and temples overturn'dA
Cold hearts and thankless tongues where thanks are dueB
Fell this dread voice from lips that cannot lieC
Stern sentence of the Powers of DestinyD
-
'I will unfold my sentence and my crimeE
My crime that rapt in reverential aweF
I sate obedient in the fiery primeE
Of youth self govern'd at the feet of LawG
Ennobling this dull pomp the life of kingsH
By contemplation of diviner thingsH
-
'My father loved injustice and lived longI
Crown'd with grey hairs he died and full of swayJ
I loved the good he scorn'd and hated wrongI
The Gods declare my recompense to dayJ
I look'd for life more lasting rule more highC
And when six years are measured lo I dieC
-
'Yet surely O my people did I deemK
Man's justice from the all just Gods was givenL
A light that from some upper fount did beamK
Some better archetype whose seat was heavenL
A light that shining from the blest abodesH
Did shadow somewhat of the life of GodsH
-
'Mere phantoms of man's self tormenting heartM
Which on the sweets that woo it dares not feedN
Vain dreams which quench our pleasures then departM
When the duped soul self master'd claims its meedM
When on the strenuous just man Heaven bestowsH
Crown of his struggling life an unjust closeH
-
'Seems it so light a thing then austere PowersH
To spurn man's common lure life's pleasant thingsH
Seems there no joy in dances crown'd with flowersH
Love free to range and regal banquetingsH
Bend ye on these indeed an unmoved eyeC
Not Gods but ghosts in frozen apathyD
-
'Or is it that some Force too wise too strongI
Even for yourselves to conquer or beguileO
Sweeps earth and heaven and men and Gods alongI
Like the broad volume of the insurgent NileO
And the great powers we serve themselves may beD
Slaves of a tyrannous necessityD
-
'Or in mid heaven perhaps your golden carsH
Where earthly voice climbs never wing their flightM
And in wild hunt through mazy tracts of starsH
Sweep in the sounding stillness of the nightM
Or in deaf ease on thrones of dazzling sheenP
Drinking deep draughts of joy ye dwell sereneP
-
'Oh wherefore cheat our youth if thus it beD
Of one short joy one lust one pleasant dreamK
Stringing vain words of powers we cannot seeD
Blind divinations of a will supremeK
Lost labour when the circumambient gloomQ
But hides if Gods Gods careless of our doomQ
-
'The rest I give to joy Even while I speakR
My sand runs short and as yon star shot rayJ
Hemm'd by two banks of cloud peers pale and weakR
Now as the barrier closes dies awayJ
Even so do past and future intertwineS
Blotting this six years' space which yet is mineS
-
'Six years six little years six drops of timeE
Yet suns shall rise and many moons shall waneT
And old men die and young men pass their primeE
And languid pleasure fade and flower againU
And the dull Gods behold ere these are flownV
Revels more deep joy keener than their ownV
-
'Into the silence of the groves and woodsH
I will go forth though something would I sayJ
Something yet what I know not for the GodsH
The doom they pass revoke not nor delayJ
And prayers and gifts and tears are fruitless allW
And the night waxes and the shadows fallW
-
'Ye men of Egypt ye have heard your kingX
I go and I return not But the willY
Of the great Gods is plain and ye must bringX
Ill deeds ill passions zealous to fulfilY
Their pleasure to their feet and reap their praiseH
The praise of Gods rich boon and length of days '-
-
So spake he half in anger half in scornZ
And one loud cry of grief and of amazeH
Broke from his sorrowing people so he spakeA2
And turning left them there and with brief pauseH
Girt with a throng of revellers bent his wayJ
To the cool region of the groves he lovedM
There by the river banks he wander'd onB2
From palm grove on to palm grove happy treesH
Their smooth tops shining sunward and beneathC2
Burying their unsunn'd stems in grass and flowersH
Where in one dream the feverish time of youthD2
Might fade in slumber and the feet of joyE2
Might wander all day long and never tireF2
Here came the king holding high feast at mornZ
Rose crown'd and ever when the sun went downG2
A hundred lamps beam'd in the tranquil gloomQ
From tree to tree all through the twinkling groveH2
Revealing all the tumult of the feastM
Flush'd guests and golden goblets foam'd with wineS
While the deep burnish'd foliage overheadM
Splinter'd the silver arrows of the moonI2
-
It may be that sometimes his wondering soulY
From the loud joyful laughter of his lipsH
Might shrink half startled like a guilty manJ2
Who wrestles with his dream as some pale shapeK2
Gliding half hidden through the dusky stemsH
Would thrust a hand before the lifted bowlY
Whispering A little space and thou art mineS
It may be on that joyless feast his eyeC
Dwelt with mere outward seeming he withinL2
Took measure of his soul and knew its strengthM2
And by that silent knowledge day by dayJ
Was calm'd ennobled comforted sustain'dM
It may be but not less his brow was smoothN2
And his clear laugh fled ringing through the gloomQ
And his mirth quail'd not at the mild reproofH2
Sigh'd out by winter's sad tranquillityM
Nor pall'd with its own fulness ebb'd and diedM
In the rich languor of long summer daysH
Nor wither'd when the palm tree plumes that roof'dM
With their mild dark his grassy banquet hallY
Bent to the cold winds of the showerless springX
No nor grew dark when autumn brought the cloudsH
-
So six long years he revell'd night and dayM
And when the mirth wax'd loudest with dull soundM
Sometimes from the grove's centre echoes cameO2
To tell his wondering people of their kingX
In the still night across the steaming flatsH
Mix'd with the murmur of the moving NileY

Matthew Arnold



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