Avis Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ FKFK LMLM NINI OPOP QRQR STST UVUV WXWX RARA YKYK TZTZ| I MAY not rightly call thy name | A |
| Alas thy forehead never knew | B |
| The kiss that happier children claim | A |
| Nor glistened with baptismal dew | B |
| - | |
| Daughter of want and wrong and woe | C |
| I saw thee with thy sister band | D |
| Snatched from the whirlpool s narrowing flow | C |
| By Mercy s strong yet trembling hand | D |
| - | |
| Avis With Saxon eye and cheek | E |
| At once a woman and a child | F |
| The saint uncrowned I came to seek | E |
| Drew near to greet us spoke and smiled | F |
| - | |
| God gave that sweet sad smile she wore | G |
| All wrong to shame all souls to win | H |
| A heavenly sunbeam sent before | G |
| Her footsteps through a world of sin | H |
| - | |
| And who is Avis Hear the tale | I |
| The calm voiced matrons gravely tell | J |
| The story known through all the vale | I |
| Where Avis and her sisters dwell | J |
| - | |
| With the lost children running wild | F |
| Strayed from the hand of human care | K |
| They find one little refuse child | F |
| Left helpless in its poisoned lair | K |
| - | |
| The primal mark is on her face | L |
| The chattel stamp the pariah stain | M |
| That follows still her hunted race | L |
| The curse without the crime of Cain | M |
| - | |
| How shall our smooth turned phrase relate | N |
| The little suffering outcast s ail | I |
| Not Lazarus at the rich man s gate | N |
| So turned the rose wreathed revellers pale | I |
| - | |
| Ah veil the living death from sight | O |
| That wounds our beauty loving eye | P |
| The children turn in selfish fright | O |
| The white lipped nurses hurry by | P |
| - | |
| Take her dread Angel Break in love | Q |
| This bruised reed and make it thine | R |
| No voice descended from above | Q |
| But Avis answered She is mine | R |
| - | |
| The task that dainty menials spurn | S |
| The fair young girl has made her own | T |
| Her heart shall teach her hand shall learn | S |
| The toils the duties yet unknown | T |
| - | |
| So Love and Death in lingering strife | U |
| Stand face to face from day to day | V |
| Still battling for the spoil of Life | U |
| While the slow seasons creep away | V |
| - | |
| Love conquers Death the prize is won | W |
| See to her joyous bosom pressed | X |
| The dusky daughter of the sun | W |
| The bronze against the marble breast | X |
| - | |
| Her task is done no voice divine | R |
| Has crowned her deeds with saintly fame | A |
| No eye can see the aureole shine | R |
| That rings her brow with heavenly flame | A |
| - | |
| Yet what has holy page more sweet | Y |
| Or what had woman s love more fair | K |
| When Mary clasped her Saviour s feet | Y |
| With flowing eyes and streaming hair | K |
| - | |
| Meek child of sorrow walk unknown | T |
| The Angel of that earthly throng | Z |
| And let thine image live alone | T |
| To hallow this unstudied song | Z |
Oliver Wendell Holmes
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About Avis
Avis is a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
Write your comment about Avis poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Best Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes