The Silent Melody Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCC DEDECC FGFGCC HIHICC JKJKLL MNMNOO PHQHRR STSTII UVUVWW MUMUQP| BRING me my broken harp he said | A |
| We both are wrecks but as ye will | B |
| Though all its ringing tones have fled | A |
| Their echoes linger round it still | B |
| It had some golden strings I know | C |
| But that was long how long ago | C |
| - | |
| I cannot see its tarnished gold | D |
| I cannot hear its vanished tone | E |
| Scarce can my trembling fingers hold | D |
| The pillared frame so long their own | E |
| We both are wrecks awhile ago | C |
| It had some silver strings I know | C |
| - | |
| But on them Time too long has played | F |
| The solemn strain that knows no change | G |
| And where of old my fingers strayed | F |
| The chords they find are new and strange | G |
| Yes iron strings I know I know | C |
| We both are wrecks of long ago | C |
| - | |
| We both are wrecks a shattered pair | H |
| Strange to ourselves in time's disguise | I |
| What say ye to the lovesick air | H |
| That brought the tears from Marian's eyes | I |
| Ay trust me under breasts of snow | C |
| Hearts could be melted long ago | C |
| - | |
| Or will ye hear the storm song's crash | J |
| That from his dreams the soldier woke | K |
| And bade him face the lightning flash | J |
| When battle's cloud in thunder broke | K |
| Wrecks nought but wrecks the time was when | L |
| We two were worth a thousand men | L |
| - | |
| And so the broken harp they bring | M |
| With pitying smiles that none could blame | N |
| Alas there's not a single string | M |
| Of all that filled the tarnished frame | N |
| But see like children overjoyed | O |
| His fingers rambling through the void | O |
| - | |
| I clasp thee Ay mine ancient lyre | P |
| Nay guide my wandering fingers There | H |
| They love to dally with the wire | Q |
| As Isaac played with Esan's hair | H |
| Hush ye shall hear the famous tune | R |
| That Marina called the Breath of June | R |
| - | |
| And so they softly gather round | S |
| Rapt in his tuneful trance he seems | T |
| His fingers move but not a sound | S |
| A silence like the song of dreams | T |
| There ye have heard the air he cries | I |
| That brought the tears from Marina's eyes | I |
| - | |
| Ah smile not at his fond conceit | U |
| Nor deem his fancy wrought in vain | V |
| To him the unreal sounds are sweet | U |
| No discord mars the silent strain | V |
| Scored on life's latest starlit page | W |
| The voiceless melody of age | W |
| - | |
| Sweet are the lips of all that sing | M |
| When Nature's music breathes unsought | U |
| But never yet could voice or string | M |
| So truly shape our tenderest thought | U |
| As when by life's decaying fire | Q |
| Our fingers sweep the stringless lyre | P |
Oliver Wendell Holmes
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Silent Melody poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Best Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes