Song For The Old Ones Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCD EFG HIHI HFJ GHGH GHKH GLML| My Fathers sit on benches | A |
| their flesh counts every plank | B |
| the slats leave dents of darkness | C |
| deep in their withered flanks | D |
| - | |
| They nod like broken candles | E |
| all waxed and burnt profound | F |
| they say 'It's understanding | G |
| that makes the world go round ' | - |
| - | |
| There in those pleated faces | H |
| I see the auction block | I |
| the chains and slavery's coffles | H |
| the whip and lash and stock | I |
| - | |
| My Fathers speak in voices | H |
| that shred my fact and sound | F |
| they say 'It's our submission | J |
| that makes the world go round ' | - |
| - | |
| They used the finest cunning | G |
| their naked wits and wiles | H |
| the lowly Uncle Tomming | G |
| and Aunt Jemima's smiles | H |
| - | |
| They've laughed to shield their crying | G |
| then shuffled through their dreams | H |
| and stepped 'n' fetched a country | K |
| to write the blues with screams | H |
| - | |
| I understand their meaning | G |
| it could and did derive | L |
| from living on the edge of death | M |
| They kept my race alive | L |
Maya Angelou
(2)
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