The Angel-thief Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CCCC CDCD EFEF EGEG HCHCTIME is a thief who leaves his tools behind him | A |
He comes by night he vanishes at dawn | B |
We track his footsteps but we never find him | A |
Strong locks are broken massive bolts are drawn | B |
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And all around are left the bars and borers | C |
The splitting wedges and the prying keys | C |
Such aids as serve the soft shod vault explorers | C |
To crack wrench open rifle as they please | C |
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Ah these are tools which Heaven in mercy lends us | C |
When gathering rust has clenched our shackles fast | D |
Time is the angel thief that Nature sends us | C |
To break the cramping fetters of our past | D |
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Mourn as we may for treasures he has taken | E |
Poor as we feel of hoarded wealth bereft | F |
More precious are those implements forsaken | E |
Found in the wreck his ruthless hands have left | F |
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Some lever that a casket's hinge has broken | E |
Pries off a bolt and lo our souls are free | G |
Each year some Open Sesame is spoken | E |
And every decade drops its master key | G |
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So as from year to year we count our treasure | H |
Our loss seems less and larger look our gains | C |
Time's wrongs repaid in more than even measure | H |
We lose our jewels but we break our chains | C |
Oliver Wendell Holmes
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Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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