The Music-grinders Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDB EFGFHF IJKJHJ LMNMOM PQRQSQ TUVUWU XYZYA2Y A2B2C2B2D2B2 E2YF2YA2Y G2H2I2H2J2H2 K2L2VL2M2L2 N2O2P2O2Q2O2 N2R2S2R2T2R2| There are three ways in which men take | A |
| One s money from his purse | B |
| And very hard it is to tell | C |
| Which of the three is worse | B |
| But all of them are bad enough | D |
| To make a body curse | B |
| - | |
| You re riding out some pleasant day | E |
| And counting up your gains | F |
| A fellow jumps from out a bush | G |
| And takes your horse s reins | F |
| Another hints some words about | H |
| A bullet in your brains | F |
| - | |
| It s hard to meet such pressing friends | I |
| In such a lonely spot | J |
| It s very hard to lose your cash | K |
| But harder to be shot | J |
| And so you take your wallet out | H |
| Though you would rather not | J |
| - | |
| Perhaps you re going out to dine | L |
| Some odious creature begs | M |
| You ll hear about the cannon ball | N |
| That carried off his pegs | M |
| And says it is a dreadful thing | O |
| For men to lose their legs | M |
| - | |
| He tells you of his starving wife | P |
| His children to be fed | Q |
| Poor little lovely innocents | R |
| All clamorous for bread | Q |
| And so you kindly help to put | S |
| A bachelor to bed | Q |
| - | |
| You re sitting on your window seat | T |
| Beneath a cloudless moon | U |
| You hear a sound that seems to wear | V |
| The semblance of a tune | U |
| As if a broken fife should strive | W |
| To drown a cracked bassoon | U |
| - | |
| And nearer nearer still the tide | X |
| Of music seems to come | Y |
| There s something like a human voice | Z |
| And something like a drum | Y |
| You sit in speechless agony | A2 |
| Until your ear is numb | Y |
| - | |
| Poor home sweet home should seem to be | A2 |
| A very dismal place | B2 |
| Your auld acquaintance all at once | C2 |
| Is altered in the face | B2 |
| Their discords sting through Burns and Moore | D2 |
| Like hedgehogs dressed in lace | B2 |
| - | |
| You think they are crusaders sent | E2 |
| From some infernal clime | Y |
| To pluck the eyes of Sentiment | F2 |
| And dock the tail of Rhyme | Y |
| To crack the voice of Melody | A2 |
| And break the legs of Time | Y |
| - | |
| But hark the air again is still | G2 |
| The music all is ground | H2 |
| And silence like a poultice comes | I2 |
| To heal the blows of sound | H2 |
| It cannot be it is it is | J2 |
| A hat is going round | H2 |
| - | |
| No Pay the dentist when he leaves | K2 |
| A fracture in your jaw | L2 |
| And pay the owner of the bear | V |
| That stunned you with his paw | L2 |
| And buy the lobster that has had | M2 |
| Your knuckles in his claw | L2 |
| - | |
| But if you are a portly man | N2 |
| Put on your fiercest frown | O2 |
| And talk about a constable | P2 |
| To turn them out of town | O2 |
| Then close your sentence with an oath | Q2 |
| And shut the window down | O2 |
| - | |
| And if you are a slender man | N2 |
| Not big enough for that | R2 |
| Or if you cannot make a speech | S2 |
| Because you are a flat | R2 |
| Go very quietly and drop | T2 |
| A button in the hat | R2 |
Oliver Wendell Holmes
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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About The Music-grinders
The Music-grinders is a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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