The Dying Seneca Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDD EFGFHH IJIKLL MNONPP| HE died not as the martyr dies | A |
| Wrapped in his living shroud of flame | B |
| He fell not as the warrior falls | C |
| Gasping upon the field of fame | B |
| A gentler passage to the grave | D |
| The murderer's softened fury gave | D |
| - | |
| Rome's slaughtered sons and blazing piles | E |
| Had tracked the purpled demon's path | F |
| And yet another victim lived | G |
| To fill the fiery scroll of wrath | F |
| Could not imperial vengeance spare | H |
| His furrowed brow and silver hair | H |
| - | |
| The field was sown with noble blood | I |
| The harvest reaped in burning tears | J |
| When rolling up its crimson flood | I |
| Broke the long gathering tide of years | K |
| His diadem was rent away | L |
| And beggars trampled on his clay | L |
| - | |
| None wept none pitied they who knelt | M |
| At morning by the despot's throne | N |
| At evening dashed the laurelled bust | O |
| And spurned the wreaths themselves had strown | N |
| The shout of triumph echoed wide | P |
| The self stung reptile writhed and died | P |
Oliver Wendell Holmes
(1)
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