The Haunted Oak Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCB CDED FGHG IJKJ LFMF NOPO QHRH SKTK UVWV JXYX ZNA2N B2PNP C2D2CD2 E2F2NF2 FG2H2G2 NBB2B

Pray why are you so bare so bareA
Oh bough of the old oak treeB
And why when I go through the shade you throwC
Runs a shudder over meB
-
My leaves were green as the best I trowC
And sap ran free in my veinsD
But I saw in the moonlight dim and weirdE
A guiltless victim's painsD
-
I bent me down to hear his sighF
I shook with his gurgling moanG
And I trembled sore when they rode awayH
And left him here aloneG
-
They 'd charged him with the old old crimeI
And set him fast in jailJ
Oh why does the dog howl all night longK
And why does the night wind wailJ
-
He prayed his prayer and he swore his oathL
And he raised his hand to the skyF
But the beat of hoofs smote on his earM
And the steady tread drew nighF
-
Who is it rides by night by nightN
Over the moonlit roadO
And what is the spur that keeps the paceP
What is the galling goadO
-
And now they beat at the prison doorQ
Ho keeper do not stayH
We are friends of him whom you hold withinR
And we fain would take him awayH
-
From those who ride fast on our heelsS
With mind to do him wrongK
They have no care for his innocenceT
And the rope they bear is longK
-
They have fooled the jailer with lying wordsU
They have fooled the man with liesV
The bolts unbar the locks are drawnW
And the great door open fliesV
-
Now they have taken him from the jailJ
And hard and fast they rideX
And the leader laughs low down in his throatY
As they halt my trunk besideX
-
Oh the judge he wore a mask of blackZ
And the doctor one of whiteN
And the minister with his oldest sonA2
Was curiously bedightN
-
Oh foolish man why weep you nowB2
'Tis but a little spaceP
And the time will come when these shall dreadN
The mem'ry of your faceP
-
I feel the rope against my barkC2
And the weight of him in my grainD2
I feel in the throe of his final woeC
The touch of my own last painD2
-
And never more shall leaves come forthE2
On a bough that bears the banF2
I am burned with dread I am dried and deadN
From the curse of a guiltless manF2
-
And ever the judge rides by rides byF
And goes to hunt the deerG2
And ever another rides his soulH2
In the guise of a mortal fearG2
-
And ever the man he rides me hardN
And never a night stays heB
For I feel his curse as a haunted boughB2
On the trunk of a haunted treeB

Paul Laurence Dunbar



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