Blades Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDEFE GFBDBHDBIGGJJIKLMB IINOPPQQF RSSN TUVVRWX YYZF QQA2A2 B2 C2C2D2D2VVB BE2E2G GF2F2GB2B2B2G| SOJOURNER set down | A |
| Your skimming wheel | B |
| Nothing is sharp | C |
| That we have of steel | B |
| Nothing has edge | D |
| Oh whirl around | E |
| Your wheel of stone | F |
| Till our blades be ground | E |
| - | |
| Harshly quickly under blades | G |
| Hafted with horn and wood and bone | F |
| Went the wheel | B |
| Narrow long knives that should be one edge | D |
| House knives that sliced the loaf to the heel | B |
| And scraped scales off mackerel | H |
| And weighty knives that were shaped like a wedge | D |
| Stone wakened keenness m their steel | B |
| Knives with which besom makers pare | I |
| Their heather stalks and hawkers' blades | G |
| Used by men of a dozen trades | G |
| Broad bladed knives that cut bacon sides | J |
| And stumpy knives for cobblers' hides | J |
| With hunters' knives that were thinned with wear | I |
| All were brought to | K |
| All were laid on | L |
| All were ground by | M |
| The Sojourner's wheel | B |
| - | |
| And those who filled the market square | I |
| Saw hand and eye upon their ware | I |
| That were well schooled and scrupulous | N |
| To spend upon that task their use | O |
| But sparks came from the eyes and met | P |
| The sparks that were from the edges whet | P |
| As eagerly and wittingly | Q |
| The dullness of each blade scoured he | Q |
| And the brow he bent was like a stone | F |
| - | |
| Over the grinding stone he sang | R |
| 'The dalesman's sword shall make you fear | S |
| And the dirk in the grasp of the mountaineer | S |
| likewise the pirate's blue cutlass | N |
| have left your blades long edgeless ' | - |
| the men were thinking of games of cards | T |
| the looks of the boys were turned towards | U |
| corner where they played pitch and toss | V |
| the women thought of the herring across | V |
| tongs to roast where pot hooks hang | R |
| ready and unforward men have no right to any lien | W |
| the gifts of Tubal Cain | X |
| The gifts of our father Tubal Cain ' | - |
| - | |
| But no one drew meaning from the song | Y |
| As he made an equal edge along | Y |
| One side of the blade and the other one | Z |
| And polished the surface till it shone | F |
| - | |
| 'Now leave a blessing on what you have done ' | - |
| - | |
| 'For what I have done I take my fee | Q |
| But no blessing I leave on it ' said he | Q |
| 'Everybody knows | A2 |
| Everybody knows | A2 |
| - | |
| That the knife grinder | B2 |
| No blessing bestows ' | - |
| - | |
| Then the market place with wheel a pack | C2 |
| He left and the men to their cards went back | C2 |
| And talked of a bird in the cocker's loft | D2 |
| And of liming linnets beside the croft | D2 |
| The boys told between pitch and toss | V |
| And the women laid the herring across | V |
| The tongs to roast for a sloven's meal | B |
| - | |
| And he went out beside the Peel | B |
| Tower and through Saint Selskar's Gate | E2 |
| Heading at a hearty rate | E2 |
| Towards the hilltops and the shades | G |
| - | |
| And three who brought back sharpened blades | G |
| To their fathers' stalls by the Tan yard Side | F2 |
| And then stayed while a blackbird cried | F2 |
| Quietly by their groundsills | G |
| The butcher's daughter | B2 |
| The cobbler's daughter | B2 |
| The hawker's daughter | B2 |
| Were lost on the hills | G |
Padraic Colum
(1)
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