A Poem - Dedication Of The Pittsfield Cemetery, September 9,1850 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDEFF GGHHCIJJKKLLMMNNDDOO HHPPQQ RRAAHHCCHHHHSS TTHHUVWWHHHHHHXXHHAA HHYYZZA2A2HHFFB2B2MM C2D2E2E2F2F2 G2G2C2D2HHRR AAHHKKH2H2DEVVPP HHB2B2 I2I2J2J2

Angel of Death extend thy silent reignA
Stretch thy dark sceptre o'er this new domainA
No sable car along the winding roadB
Has borne to earth its unresisting loadB
No sudden mound has risen yet to showC
Where the pale slumberer folds his arms belowC
No marble gleams to bid his memory liveD
In the brief lines that hurrying Time can giveE
Yet O Destroyer from thy shrouded throneF
Look on our gift this realm is all thine ownF
-
Fair is the scene its sweetness oft beguiledG
From their dim paths the children of the wildG
The dark haired maiden loved its grassy dellsH
The feathered warrior claimed its wooded swellsH
Still on its slopes the ploughman's ridges showC
The pointed flints that left his fatal bowI
Chipped with rough art and slow barbarian toilJ
Last of his wrecks that strews the alien soilJ
Here spread the fields that heaped their ripened storeK
Till the brown arms of Labor held no moreK
The scythe's broad meadow with its dusky blushL
The sickle's harvest with its velvet flushL
The green haired maize her silken tresses laidM
In soft luxuriance on her harsh brocadeM
The gourd that swells beneath her tossing plumeN
The coarser wheat that rolls in lakes of bloomN
Its coral stems and milk white flowers aliveD
With the wide murmurs of the scattered hiveD
Here glowed the apple with the pencilled streakO
Of morning painted on its southern cheekO
The pear's long necklace strung with golden dropsH
Arched like the banian o'er its pillared propsH
Here crept the growths that paid the laborer's careP
With the cheap luxuries wealth consents to spareP
Here sprang the healing herbs which could not saveQ
The hand that reared them from the neighboring graveQ
-
Yet all its varied charms forever freeR
From task and tribute Labor yields to theeR
No more when April sheds her fitful rainA
The sower's hand shall cast its flying grainA
No more when Autumn strews the flaming leavesH
The reaper's band shall gird its yellow sheavesH
For thee alike the circling seasons flowC
Till the first blossoms heave the latest snowC
In the stiff clod below the whirling driftsH
In the loose soil the springing herbage liftsH
In the hot dust beneath the parching weedsH
Life's withering flower shall drop its shrivelled seedsH
Its germ entranced in thy unbreathing sleepS
Till what thou sowest mightier angels reapS
-
Spirit of Beauty let thy graces blendT
With loveliest Nature all that Art can lendT
Come from the bowers where Summer's life blood flowsH
Through the red lips of June's half open roseH
Dressed in bright hues the loving sunshine's dowerU
For tranquil Nature owns no mourning flowerV
Come from the forest where the beech's screenW
Bars the fierce moonbeam with its flakes of greenW
Stay the rude axe that bares the shadowy plainsH
Stanch the deep wound That dries the maple's veinsH
Come with the stream whose silver braided rillsH
Fling their unclasping bracelets from the hillsH
Till in one gleam beneath the forest's wingsH
Melts the white glitter of a hundred springsH
Come from the steeps where look majestic forthX
From their twin thrones the Giants of the NorthX
On the huge shapes that crouching at their kneesH
Stretch their broad shoulders rough with shaggy treesH
Through the wide waste of ether not in vainA
Their softened gaze shall reach our distant plainA
There while the mourner turns his aching eyesH
On the blue mounds that print the bluer skiesH
Nature shall whisper that the fading viewY
Of mightiest grief may wear a heavenly hueY
Cherub of Wisdom let thy marble pageZ
Leave its sad lesson new to every ageZ
Teach us to live not grudging every breathA2
To the chill winds that waft us on to deathA2
But ruling calmly every pulse it warmsH
And tempering gently every word it formsH
Seraph of Love in heaven's adoring zoneF
Nearest of all around the central throneF
While with soft hands the pillowed turf we spreadB2
That soon shall hold us in its dreamless bedB2
With the low whisper Who shall first be laidM
In the dark chamber's yet unbroken shadeM
Let thy sweet radiance shine rekindled hereC2
And all we cherish grow more truly dearD2
Here in the gates of Death's o'erhanging vaultE2
Oh teach us kindness for our brother's faultE2
Lay all our wrongs beneath this peaceful sodF2
And lead our hearts to Mercy and its GodF2
-
FATHER of all in Death's relentless claimG2
We read thy mercy by its sterner nameG2
In the bright flower that decks the solemn bierC2
We see thy glory in its narrowed sphereD2
In the deep lessons that affliction drawsH
We trace the curves of thy encircling lawsH
In the long sigh that sets our spirits freeR
We own the love that calls us back to TheeR
-
Through the hushed street along the silent plainA
The spectral future leads its mourning trainA
Dark with the shadows of uncounted bandsH
Where man's white lips and woman's wringing handsH
Track the still burden rolling slow beforeK
That love and kindness can protect no moreK
The smiling babe that called to mortal strifeH2
Shuts its meek eyes and drops its little lifeH2
The drooping child who prays in vain to liveD
And pleads for help its parent cannot giveE
The pride of beauty stricken in its flowerV
The strength of manhood broken in an hourV
Age in its weakness bowed by toil and careP
Traced in sad lines beneath its silvered hairP
-
The sun shall set and heaven's resplendent spheresH
Gild the smooth turf unhallowed yet by tearsH
But ah how soon the evening stars will shedB2
Their sleepless light around the slumbering deadB2
-
Take them O Father in immortal trustI2
Ashes to ashes dust to kindred dustI2
Till the last angel rolls the stone awayJ2
And a new morning brings eternal dayJ2

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 Poem - Dedication Of The Pittsfield Cemetery, September 9,1850 poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes


 

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 2 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