Sohrab And Rustum Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABBCDEFGFHF IJKLJMNJOPFEIFEQRCE ST EUVUWXYZA2B2QC2D2E2F 2G2C2H2G2YI2J2UK2KKL 2M2N2L JE O2P2Q2B2R2S2Q2LT2KM2 QYLU2LV2W2X2Y2Z2QG2A 3QQB3YQ C3LNH2D3GE3LF3G3 HQH3I3J3K3L3QQQQM3L3 N3QO3QP3LQQ3QR3S3QQQ T3LQLU3V3L3I2W3LR3X3 QQMR3IJE LLQD2 Y3QZ3ED2A4 LQVQVQQB4QL C4R3D4Z2E C4And the first grey of morning fill'd the east | A |
And the fog rose out of the Oxus stream | B |
But all the Tartar camp along the stream | B |
Was hush'd and still the men were plunged in sleep | C |
Sohrab alone he slept not all night long | D |
He had lain wakeful tossing on his bed | E |
But when the grey dawn stole into his tent | F |
He rose and clad himself and girt his sword | G |
And took his horseman's cloak and left his tent | F |
And went abroad into the cold wet fog | H |
Through the dim camp to Peran Wisa's tent | F |
- | |
Through the black Tartar tents he pass'd which stood | I |
Clustering like bee hives on the low flat strand | J |
Of Oxus where the summer floods o'erflow | K |
When the sun melts the snows in high Pamere | L |
Through the black tents he pass'd o'er that low strand | J |
And to a hillock came a little back | M |
From the stream's brink the spot where first a boat | N |
Crossing the stream in summer scrapes the land | J |
The men of former times had crown'd the top | O |
With a clay fort but that was fall'n and now | P |
The Tartars built there Peran Wisa's tent | F |
A dome of laths and o'er it felts were spread | E |
And Sohrab came there and went in and stood | I |
Upon the thick piled carpets in the tent | F |
And found the old man sleeping on his bed | E |
Of rugs and felts and near him lay his arms | Q |
And Peran Wisa heard him though the step | R |
Was dull'd for he slept light an old man's sleep | C |
And he rose quickly on one arm and said | E |
- | |
Who art thou for it is not yet clear dawn | S |
Speak is there news or any night alarm | T |
- | |
But Sohrab came to the bedside and said | E |
Thou know'st me Peran Wisa it is I | U |
The sun is not yet risen and the foe | V |
Sleep but I sleep not all night long I lie | U |
Tossing and wakeful and I come to thee | W |
For so did King Afrasiab bid me seek | X |
Thy counsel and to heed thee as thy son | Y |
In Samarcand before the army march'd | Z |
And I will tell thee what my heart desires | A2 |
Thou know'st if since from Ader baijan first | B2 |
I came among the Tartars and bore arms | Q |
I have still served Afrasiab well and shown | C2 |
At my boy's years the courage of a man | D2 |
This too thou know'st that while I still bear on | E2 |
The conquering Tartar ensigns through the world | F2 |
And beat the Persians back on every field | G2 |
I seek one man one man and one alone | C2 |
Rustum my father who I hoped should greet | H2 |
Should one day greet upon some well fought field | G2 |
His not unworthy not inglorious son | Y |
So I long hoped but him I never find | I2 |
Come then hear now and grant me what I ask | J2 |
Let the two armies rest to day but I | U |
Will challenge forth the bravest Persian lords | K2 |
To meet me man to man if I prevail | K |
Rustum will surely hear it if I fall | K |
Old man the dead need no one claim no kin | L2 |
Dim is the rumour of a common fight | M2 |
Where host meets host and many names are sunk | N2 |
But of a single combat fame speaks clear | L |
- | |
He spoke and Peran Wisa took the hand | J |
Of the young man in his and sigh'd and said | E |
- | |
O Sohrab an unquiet heart is thine | O2 |
Canst thou not rest among the Tartar chiefs | P2 |
And share the battle's common chance with us | Q2 |
Who love thee but must press for ever first | B2 |
In single fight incurring single risk | R2 |
To find a father thou hast never seen | S2 |
That were far best my son to stay with us | Q2 |
Unmurmuring in our tents while it is war | L |
And when 'tis truce then in Afrasiab's towns | T2 |
But if this one desire indeed rules all | K |
To seek out Rustum seek him not through fight | M2 |
Seek him in peace and carry to his arms | Q |
O Sohrab carry an unwounded son | Y |
But far hence seek him for he is not here | L |
For now it is not as when I was young | U2 |
When Rustum was in front of every fray | L |
But now he keeps apart and sits at home | V2 |
In Seistan with Zal his father old | W2 |
Whether that his own mighty strength at last | X2 |
Feels the abhorr'd approaches of old age | Y2 |
Or in some quarrel with the Persian King | Z2 |
There go Thou wilt not Yet my heart forebodes | Q |
Danger or death awaits thee on this field | G2 |
Fain would I know thee safe and well though lost | A3 |
To us fain therefore send thee hence in peace | Q |
To seek thy father not seek single fights | Q |
In vain but who can keep the lion's cub | B3 |
From ravening and who govern Rustum's son | Y |
Go I will grant thee what thy heart desires | Q |
- | |
So said he and dropp'd Sohrab's hand and left | C3 |
His bed and the warm rugs whereon he lay | L |
And o'er his chilly limbs his woollen coat | N |
He pass'd and tied his sandals on his feet | H2 |
And threw a white cloak round him and he took | D3 |
In his right hand a ruler's staff no sword | G |
And on his head he set his sheep skin cap | E3 |
Black glossy curl'd the fleece of Kara Kul | L |
And raised the curtain of his tent and call'd | F3 |
His herald to his side and went abroad | G3 |
- | |
The sun by this had risen and clear'd the fog | H |
From the broad Oxus and the glittering sands | Q |
And from their tents the Tartar horsemen filed | H3 |
Into the open plain so Haman bade | I3 |
Haman who next to Peran Wisa ruled | J3 |
The host and still was in his lusty prime | K3 |
From their black tents long files of horse they stream'd | L3 |
As when some grey November morn the files | Q |
In marching order spread of long neck'd cranes | Q |
Stream over Casbin and the southern slopes | Q |
Of Elburz from the Aralian estuaries | Q |
Or some frore Caspian reed bed southward bound | M3 |
For the warm Persian sea board so they stream'd | L3 |
The Tartars of the Oxus the King's guard | N3 |
First with black sheep skin caps and with long spears | Q |
Large men large steeds who from Bokhara come | O3 |
And Khiva and ferment the milk of mares | Q |
Next the more temperate Toorkmuns of the south | P3 |
The Tukas and the lances of Salore | L |
And those from Attruck and the Caspian sands | Q |
Light men and on light steeds who only drink | Q3 |
The acrid milk of camels and their wells | Q |
And then a swarm of wandering horse who came | R3 |
From far and a more doubtful service own'd | S3 |
The Tartars of Ferghana from the banks | Q |
Of the Jaxartes men with scanty beards | Q |
And close set skull caps and those wilder hordes | Q |
Who roam o'er Kipchak and the northern waste | T3 |
Kalmucks and unkempt Kuzzaks tribes who stray | L |
Nearest the Pole and wandering Kirghizzes | Q |
Who come on shaggy ponies from Pamere | L |
These all filed out from camp into the plain | U3 |
And on the other side the Persians form'd | V3 |
First a light cloud of horse Tartars they seem'd | L3 |
The Ilyats of Khorassan and behind | I2 |
The royal troops of Persia horse and foot | W3 |
Marshall'd battalions bright in burnish'd steel | L |
But Peran Wisa with his herald came | R3 |
Threading the Tartar squadrons to the front | X3 |
And with his staff kept back the foremost ranks | Q |
And when Ferood who led the Persians saw | Q |
That Peran Wisa kept the Tartars back | M |
He took his spear and to the front he came | R3 |
And check'd his ranks and fix'd them where they stood | I |
And the old Tartar came upon the sand | J |
Betwixt the silent hosts and spake and said | E |
- | |
Ferood and ye Persians and Tartars hear | L |
Let there be truce between the hosts to day | L |
But choose a champion from the Persian lords | Q |
To fight our champion Sohrab man to man | D2 |
- | |
As in the country on a morn in June | Y3 |
When the dew glistens on the pearled ears | Q |
A shiver runs through the deep corn for joy | Z3 |
So when they heard what Peran Wisa said | E |
A thrill through all the Tartar squadrons ran | D2 |
Of pride and hope for Sohrab whom they loved | A4 |
- | |
But as a troop of pedlars from Cabool | L |
Cross underneath the Indian Caucasus | Q |
That vast sky neighbouring mountain of milk snow | V |
Crossing so high that as they mount they pass | Q |
Long flocks of travelling birds dead on the snow | V |
Choked by the air and scarce can they themselves | Q |
Slake their parch'd throats with sugar'd mulberries | Q |
In single file they move and stop their breath | B4 |
For fear they should dislodge the o'er hanging snows | Q |
So the pale Persians held their breath with fear | L |
- | |
And to Ferood his brother chiefs came up | C4 |
To counsel Gudurz and Zoarrah came | R3 |
And Feraburz who ruled the Persian host | D4 |
Second and was the uncle of the King | Z2 |
These came and counsell'd and then Gudurz said | E |
- | |
Ferood shame bids us take their challenge up | C4 |
Yet champion h | - |
Matthew Arnold
(1)
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