The Double Transformation, A Tale Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCC DDEEFFGGHHIIJJ KKLLMMNN OOPPQQRRSS TTUURRVVWWXXXXTTYYXX ZZ A2A2B2B2C2C2D2D2E2E2 D2D2AAF2F2DDD2D2 KKD2D2D2D2D2D2G2G2 XXA2A2H2H2I2I2ZZQQTT| Secluded from domestic strife | A |
| Jack Book worm led a college life | A |
| A fellowship at twenty five | B |
| Made him the happiest man alive | B |
| He drank his glass and crack'd his joke | C |
| And freshmen wonder'd as he spoke | C |
| - | |
| Such pleasures unalloy'd with care | D |
| Could any accident impair | D |
| Could Cupid's shaft at length transfix | E |
| Our swain arriv'd at thirty six | E |
| O had the archer ne'er come down | F |
| To ravage in a country town | F |
| Or Flavia been content to stop | G |
| At triumphs in a Fleet street shop | G |
| O had her eyes forgot to blaze | H |
| Or Jack had wanted eyes to gaze | H |
| O But let exclamation cease | I |
| Her presence banish'd all his peace | I |
| So with decorum all things carried | J |
| Miss frown'd and blush'd and then was married | J |
| - | |
| Need we expose to vulgar sight | K |
| The raptures of the bridal night | K |
| Need we intrude on hallow'd ground | L |
| Or draw the curtains clos'd around | L |
| Let it suffice that each had charms | M |
| He clasp'd a goddess in his arms | M |
| And though she felt his usage rough | N |
| Yet in a man 'twas well enough | N |
| - | |
| The honey moon like lightning flew | O |
| The second brought its transports too | O |
| A third a fourth were not amiss | P |
| The fifth was friendship mix'd with bliss | P |
| But when a twelvemonth pass'd away | Q |
| Jack found his goddess made of clay | Q |
| Found half the charms that deck'd her face | R |
| Arose from powder shreds or lace | R |
| But still the worst remain'd behind | S |
| That very face had robb'd her mind | S |
| - | |
| Skill'd in no other arts was she | T |
| But dressing patching repartee | T |
| And just as humour rose or fell | U |
| By turns a slattern or a belle | U |
| 'Tis true she dress'd with modern grace | R |
| Half naked at a ball or race | R |
| But when at home at board or bed | V |
| Five greasy nightcaps wrapp'd her head | V |
| Could so much beauty condescend | W |
| To be a dull domestic friend | W |
| Could any curtain lectures bring | X |
| To decency so fine a thing | X |
| In short by night 'twas fits or fretting | X |
| By day 'twas gadding or coquetting | X |
| Fond to be seen she kept a bevy | T |
| Of powder'd coxcombs at her levy | T |
| The 'squire and captain took their stations | Y |
| And twenty other near relations | Y |
| Jack suck'd his pipe and often broke | X |
| A sigh in suffocating smoke | X |
| While all their hours were pass'd between | Z |
| Insulting repartee or spleen | Z |
| - | |
| Thus as her faults each day were known | A2 |
| He thinks her features coarser grown | A2 |
| He fancies every vice she shows | B2 |
| Or thins her lip or points her nose | B2 |
| Whenever rage or envy rise | C2 |
| How wide her mouth how wild her eyes | C2 |
| He knows not how but so it is | D2 |
| Her face is grown a knowing phiz | D2 |
| And though her fops are wond'rous civil | E2 |
| He thinks her ugly as the devil | E2 |
| - | |
| Now to perplex the ravell'd noose | D2 |
| As each a different way pursues | D2 |
| While sullen or loquacious strife | A |
| Promis'd to hold them on for life | A |
| That dire disease whose ruthless power | F2 |
| Withers the beauty's transient flower | F2 |
| Lo the small pox whose horrid glare | D |
| Levell'd its terrors at the fair | D |
| And rifling ev'ry youthful grace | D2 |
| Left but the remnant of a face | D2 |
| - | |
| The glass grown hateful to her sight | K |
| Reflected now a perfect fright | K |
| Each former art she vainly tries | D2 |
| To bring back lustre to her eyes | D2 |
| In vain she tries her paste and creams | D2 |
| To smooth her skin or hide its seams | D2 |
| Her country beaux and city cousins | D2 |
| Lovers no more flew off by dozens | D2 |
| The 'squire himself was seen to yield | G2 |
| And e'en the captain quit the field | G2 |
| - | |
| Poor Madam now condemn'd to hack | X |
| The rest of life with anxious Jack | X |
| Perceiving others fairly flown | A2 |
| Attempted pleasing him alone | A2 |
| Jack soon was dazzl'd to behold | H2 |
| Her present face surpass the old | H2 |
| With modesty her cheeks are dy'd | I2 |
| Humility displaces pride | I2 |
| For tawdry finery is seen | Z |
| A person ever neatly clean | Z |
| No more presuming on her sway | Q |
| She learns good nature every day | Q |
| Serenely gay and strict in duty | T |
| Jack finds his wife a perfect beauty | T |
Oliver Goldsmith
(1)
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