A Ballad Of The Boston Tea-party Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BCBCDEDEFCFCFGCFCFHF IF FGFGFEFEJFJFKEKELCLC MLMLCGCGNGN FEFELCLCLLLL FEFEACOC PQPQRCRCSF SFAAAA TATAUCUCAAAA

Read at a meeting of the Massachusetts Historical SocietyA
-
No never such a draught was pouredB
Since Hebe served with nectarC
The bright Olympians and their LordB
Her over kind protectorC
Since Father Noah squeezed the grapeD
And took to such behavingE
As would have shamed our grandsire apeD
Before the days of shavingE
No ne'er was mingled such a draughtF
In palace hall or arborC
As freemen brewed and tyrants quaffedF
That night in Boston HarborC
The Western war cloud's crimson stainedF
The Thames the Clyde the ShannonG
Full many a six foot grenadierC
The flattened grass had measuredF
And many a mother many a yearC
Her tearful memories treasuredF
Fast spread the tempest's darkening pallH
The mighty realms were troubledF
The storm broke loose but first of allI
The Boston teapot bubbledF
-
An evening party only thatF
No formal invitationG
No gold laced coat no stiff cravatF
No feast in contemplationG
No silk robed dames no fiddling bandF
No flowers no songs no dancingE
A tribe of red men axe in handF
Behold the guests advancingE
How fast the stragglers join the throngJ
From stall and workshop gatheredF
The lively barber skips alongJ
And leaves a chin half latheredF
The smith has flung his hammer downK
The horseshoe still is glowingE
The truant tapster at the CrownK
Has left a beer cask flowingE
The cooper's boys have dropped the adzeL
And trot behind their masterC
Up run the tarry ship yard ladsL
The crowd is hurrying fasterC
Out from the Millpond's purlieus gushM
The streams of white faced millersL
And down their slippery alleys rushM
The lusty young Fort HillersL
The ropewalk lends its 'prentice crewC
The tories seize the omenG
'Ay boys you'll soon have work to doC
For England's rebel foemenG
'King Hancock ' Adams and their gangN
That fire the mob with treasonG
When these we shoot and those we hangN
The town will come to reason '-
-
On on to where the tea ships rideF
And now their ranks are formingE
A rush and up the Dartmouth's sideF
The Mohawk band is swarmingE
See the fierce natives What a glimpseL
Of paint and fur and featherC
As all at once the full grown impsL
Light on the deck togetherC
A scarf the pigtail's secret keepsL
A blanket hides the breechesL
And out the cursed cargo leapsL
And overboard it pitchesL
-
O woman at the evening boardF
So gracious sweet and purringE
So happy while the tea is pouredF
So blest while spoons are stirringE
What martyr can compare with theeA
The mother wife or daughterC
That night instead of best BoheaO
Condemned to milk and waterC
-
Ah little dreams the quiet dameP
Who plies with' rock and spindleQ
The patient flax how great a flameP
Yon little spark shall kindleQ
The lurid morning shall revealR
A fire no king can smotherC
Where British flint and Boston steelR
Have clashed against each otherC
Old charters shrivel in its trackS
His Worship's bench has crumbledF
-
It climbs and clasps the union jackS
Its blazoned pomp is humbledF
The flags go down on land and seaA
Like corn before the reapersA
So burned the fire that brewed the teaA
That Boston served her keepersA
-
The waves that wrought a century's wreckT
Have rolled o'er whig and toryA
The Mohawks on the Dartmouth's deckT
Still live in song and storyA
The waters in the rebel bayU
Have kept the tea leaf savorC
Our old North Enders in their sprayU
Still taste a Hyson flavorC
And Freedom's teacup still o'erflowsA
With ever fresh libationsA
To cheat of slumber all her foesA
And cheer the wakening nationsA

Oliver Wendell Holmes



Rate:
(1)



Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme

Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation


Write your comment about A Ballad Of The Boston Tea-party poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes


 

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 24 times,

This poem was added to the favorite list by 0 members,

This poem was voted by 0 members.

(* Interactions only in the last 7 days)

New Poems

Popular Poets