Saint Edmond's Eve Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CCCC DEDF GFGF CHCH CEC FIFI JKKK CLCC CCCC CMCM CCCC NMN OIOI FKFK CPCP QCQ KCKC KRK Q QK KCKC HQH CKCK CQCQ CEC SOSO CCCC CCCC TNTN CQCQOh did you observe the Black Canon pass | A |
And did you observe his frown | B |
He goeth to say the midnight mass | A |
In holy St Edmond's town | B |
- | |
He goeth to sing the burial chaunt | C |
And to lay the wandering sprite | C |
Whose shadowy restless form doth haunt | C |
The Abbey's drear aisle this night | C |
- | |
It saith it will not its wailing cease | D |
'Till that holy man come near | E |
'Till he pour o er its grave the prayer of peace | D |
And sprinkle the hallowed tear | F |
- | |
The Canon's horse is stout and strong | G |
The road is plain and fair | F |
But the Canon slowly wends along | G |
And his brow is gloomed with care | F |
- | |
Who is it thus late at the Abbey gate | C |
Sullen echoes the portal bell | H |
It sounds like the whispering voice of fate | C |
It sounds like a funeral knell | H |
- | |
The Canon his faltering knee thrice bowed | C |
And his frame was convulsed with fear | E |
When a voice was heard distinct and loud | C |
'Prepare for thy hour is near ' | - |
- | |
He crosses his breast he mutters a prayer | F |
To Heaven he lifts his eye | I |
He heeds not the Abbot's gazing stare | F |
Nor the dark Monks who murmured by | I |
- | |
Bare headed he worships the sculptured saints | J |
That frown on the sacred walls | K |
His face it grows pale he trembles he faints | K |
At the Abbot s feet he falls | K |
- | |
And straight the father s robe he kissed | C |
Who cried 'Grace dwells with thee | L |
The spirit will fade like the morning mist | C |
At your benedicite | C |
- | |
'Now haste within the board is spread | C |
Keen blows the air and cold | C |
The spectre sleeps in its earthy bed | C |
'Till St Edmond s bell hath tolled | C |
- | |
'Yet rest your wearied limbs to night | C |
You ve journeyed many a mile | M |
To morrow lay the wailing sprite | C |
That shrieks in the moonlight aisle | M |
- | |
'Oh faint are my limbs and my bosom is cold | C |
Yet to night must the sprite be laid | C |
Yet to night when the hour of horror's told | C |
Must I meet the wandering shade | C |
- | |
'Nor food nor rest may now delay | N |
For hark the echoing pile | M |
A bell loud shakes Oh haste away | N |
O lead to the haunted aisle ' | - |
- | |
The torches slowly move before | O |
The cross is raised on high | I |
A smile of peace the Canon wore | O |
But horror dimmed his eye | I |
- | |
And now they climb the footworn stair | F |
The chapel gates unclose | K |
Now each breathed low a fervent prayer | F |
And fear each bosom froze | K |
- | |
Now paused awhile the doubtful band | C |
And viewed the solemn scene | P |
Full dark the clustered columns stand | C |
The moon gleams pale between | P |
- | |
'Say father say what cloisters' gloom | Q |
Conceals the unquiet shade | C |
Within what dark unhallowed tomb | Q |
The corse unblessed was laid ' | - |
- | |
'Through yonder drear aisle alone it walks | K |
And murmurs a mournful plaint | C |
Of thee Black Canon it wildly talks | K |
And call on thy patron saint | C |
- | |
The pilgrim this night with wondering eyes | K |
As he prayed at St Edmond's shrine | R |
From a black marble tomb hath seen it rise | K |
And under yon arch recline ' | - |
- | |
Oh say upon that black marble tomb | Q |
What memorial sad appears ' | - |
Undistinguished it lies in the chancel's gloom | Q |
No memorial sad it bears' | K |
- | |
The Canon his paternoster reads | K |
His rosary hung by his side | C |
Now swift to the chancel doors he leads | K |
And untouched they open wide | C |
- | |
Resistless strange sounds his steps impel | H |
To approach to the black marble tomb | Q |
'Oh enter Black Canon ' a whisper fell | H |
'Oh enter thy hour is come ' | - |
- | |
He paused told his beads and the threshold passed | C |
Oh horror the chancel doors close | K |
A loud yell was borne on the rising blast | C |
And a deep dying groan arose | K |
- | |
The Monks in amazement shuddering stand | C |
They burst through the chancel's gloom | Q |
From St Edmond s shrine lo a skeleton s hand | C |
Points to the black marble tomb | Q |
- | |
Lo deeply engraved an inscription blood red | C |
In characters fresh and clear | E |
'The guilty Black Canon of Elmham's dead | C |
And his wife lies buried here ' | - |
- | |
In Elmham s tower he wedded a Nun | S |
To St Edmond s his bride he bore | O |
On this eve her noviciate here was begun | S |
And a Monk s gray weeds she wore | O |
- | |
O deep was her conscience dyed with guilt | C |
Remorse she full oft revealed | C |
Her blood by the ruthless Black Canon was spilt | C |
And in death her lips he sealed | C |
- | |
Her spirit to penance this night was doomed | C |
'Till the Canon atoned the deed | C |
Here together they now shall rest entombed | C |
'Till their bodies from dust are freed | C |
- | |
Hark a loud peal of thunder shakes the roof | T |
Round the altar bright lightnings play | N |
Speechless with horror the Monks stand aloof | T |
And the storm dies sudden away | N |
- | |
The inscription was gone a cross on the ground | C |
And a rosary shone through the gloom | Q |
But never again was the Canon there found | C |
Or the Ghost on the black marble tomb | Q |
Percy Bysshe Shelley
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about Saint Edmond's Eve poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Best Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley