The People Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGGHAIJKLMN O FMFPOQRB ASTUVBGWXYZA2B2GC2D2 E2 F2G2H2RRII2RRJ2K2OL2 C2KM2 N2O2P2BQ2GR2S2T2U2V2 BW2S GX2Y2V2G2GV2Z2G2A3B3 X2V2Z2WC3 D3E3V2V2F3V2Z2GG3 V2V2V2E2 B V2 F3H3ONO SV2I3I3V2 V2 V2 A3 Z2 E3 V2 Y2 V2V2J3V2V2 K3 L3 M3N3F3 Z2V2I

I recall that man and not two centuriesA
have passed since I saw himB
he went neither by horse nor by carriageC
purely on footD
he outstrippedE
distancesF
and carried no sword or armourG
only nets on his shoulderG
axe or hammer or spadeH
never fighting the rest of his speciesA
his exploits were with water and earthI
with wheat so that it turned into breadJ
with giant trees to render them woodK
with walls to open up doorsL
with sand to construct the wallsM
and with ocean for it to bearN
-
I knew him and he is still not cancelled in meO
-
The carriages fell to piecesF
war destroyed doors and wallsM
the city was a handful of ashesF
all the clothes turned to dustP
and he remains to meO
he survives in the sandQ
when everything beforeR
seemed imperishable but himB
-
In the going and coming of familiesA
at times he was my father or kinsmanS
or perhaps it was scarcely him or notT
the one who did not return to his houseU
because water or earth swallowed him upV
or a tree or an engine killed himB
or he was the saddened carpenterG
who went behind the coffin without tearsW
someone in the end who had no nameX
except those that metal or timber haveY
and on whom others gazed from on highZ
without seeing the antA2
for the anthillB2
and so that when his feet did not stirG
because the poor exhausted one had diedC2
they never saw what they had not seenD2
already there were other feet where he'd beenE2
-
The other feet were still hisF2
and the other handsG2
the man remainedH2
when it seemed that now he was done forR
he was the same once moreR
there he was digging again at the earthI
cutting cloth minus a shirtI2
there he was and was not like beforeR
he had gone down and was once moreR
and since he never owned graveyardsJ2
or tombs nor was his name carvedK2
on the stone he sweated to quarryO
no one knew he had comeL2
and no one knew when he diedC2
so that only when the poor man couldK
he returned to life once more without it being notedM2
-
He was the man no doubt of it without heritageN2
without cattle without a flagO2
and he was not distinguished from othersP2
the others who were himB
from the heights he was grey like the subsoilQ2
tanned like the leatherG
he was yellow reaping the wheatR2
he was black down in the mineS2
he was the colour of stone on the fortressT2
in the fishing boat the colour of tunaU2
and the colour of horses in the meadowV2
how could anyone distinguish himB
if he was inseparable elementalW2
earth coal or sea vested in manS
-
Where he lived whateverG
a man touched grewX2
the hostile stonesY2
quarriedV2
by his handsG2
took on orderG
and one by one formedV2
the right clarity of a buildingZ2
he made bread with his handsG2
moved the enginesA3
the distances peopled themselves with townsB3
other men grewX2
bees arrivedV2
and by man's creating and breedingZ2
spring walked the market squaresW
between bakeries and dovesC3
-
The maker of loaves was forgottenD3
he who quarried and journeyed beating downE3
and opening furrows transporting sandV2
when everything existed he no longer existedV2
he gave his existence that's allF3
He went elsewhere to labour and at lastV2
he was dead rollingZ2
like a stone in the riverG
death carried him downstreamG3
-
I who knew him saw him descendV2
till he was no longer except what he leftV2
roads he could scarcely knowV2
houses he never ever would live inE2
-
I turn to see him and I await himB
-
I see him in his grave and resurrectedV2
-
I distinguish him among allF3
who are his equalsH3
and it seems to me it cannot beO
that like this we go nowhereN
that to survive like this holds no gloryO
-
I believe that this manS
must be enthroned rightly shod and crownedV2
I believe that those who made such thingsI3
must be the masters of all these thingsI3
And that those who made bread should eatV2
-
And those in the mines must have lightV2
-
Enough now of grey men enslavedV2
-
Enough of the pale 'missing ones'A3
-
Not another man passes except as a kingZ2
-
Not a single woman without her crownE3
-
Golden gauntlets for every handV2
-
Fruits of the sun for all the unknownsY2
-
I knew that man and when I couldV2
when he still had eyes in his headV2
when he still had a voice in his mouthJ3
I searched for him among tombs and I saidV2
grasping his arm that was not yet dustV2
-
'All will be gone you will live onK3
-
You ignite lifeL3
-
You made what is yours '-
-
So let no one trouble themselves whenM3
I seem to be alone and am not aloneN3
I am with no one and speak for them allF3
-
Some listen to me without knowingZ2
but those I sing those who do knowV2
go on being born and will fill up the EarthI

Pablo Neruda



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