The World-soul Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDEFE GHIHBJKJ LMBMNOCO PQRQJSTS UBCBVWIT NCXYCZBZ A2B2C2B2A2BFD2 E2F2G2F2H2I2 BI2 J2K2L2CJ2JCJ M2N2J2N2J2O2J2O2 CP2J2P2 Q2J2AD2 R2P2S2P2J2T2J2T2 U2V2R2V2CH2P2H2 EW2 X2W2J2Y2W2Y2Thanks to the morning light | A |
Thanks to the seething sea | B |
To the uplands of New Hampshire | C |
To the green haired forest free | B |
Thanks to each man of courage | D |
To the maids of holy mind | E |
To the boy with his games undaunted | F |
Who never looks behind | E |
- | |
Cities of proud hotels | G |
Houses of rich and great | H |
Vice nestles in your chambers | I |
Beneath your roofs of slate | H |
It cannot conquer folly | B |
Time and space conquering steam | J |
And the light outspeeding telegraph | K |
Bears nothing on its beam | J |
- | |
The politics are base | L |
The letters do not cheer | M |
And 'tis far in the deeps of history | B |
The voice that speaketh clear | M |
Trade and the streets ensnare us | N |
Our bodies are weak and worn | O |
We plot and corrupt each other | C |
And we despoil the unborn | O |
- | |
Yet there in the parlor sits | P |
Some figure of noble guise | Q |
Our angel in a stranger's form | R |
Or woman's pleading eyes | Q |
Or only a flashing sunbeam | J |
In at the window pane | S |
Or music pours on mortals | T |
Its beautiful disdain | S |
- | |
The inevitable morning | U |
Finds them who in cellars be | B |
And be sure the all loving Nature | C |
Will smile in a factory | B |
Yon ridge of purple landscape | V |
Yon sky between the walls | W |
Hold all the hidden wonders | I |
In scanty intervals | T |
- | |
Alas the sprite that haunts us | N |
Deceives our rash desire | C |
It whispers of the glorious gods | X |
And leaves us in the mire | Y |
We cannot learn the cipher | C |
That's writ upon our cell | Z |
Stars help us by a mystery | B |
Which we could never spell | Z |
- | |
If but one hero knew it | A2 |
The world would blush in flame | B2 |
The sage till he hit the secret | C2 |
Would hang his head for shame | B2 |
But our brothers have not read it | A2 |
Not one has found the key | B |
And henceforth we are comforted | F |
We are but such as they | D2 |
- | |
Still still the secret presses | E2 |
The nearing clouds draw down | F2 |
The crimson morning flames into | G2 |
The fopperies of the town | F2 |
Within without the idle earth | H2 |
Stars weave eternal rings | I2 |
- | |
The sun himself shines heartily | B |
And shares the joy he brings | I2 |
- | |
And what if trade sow cities | J2 |
Like shells along the shore | K2 |
And thatch with towns the prairie broad | L2 |
With railways ironed o'er | C |
They are but sailing foambells | J2 |
Along Thought's causing stream | J |
And take their shape and Sun color | C |
From him that sends the dream | J |
- | |
For destiny does not like | M2 |
To yield to men the helm | N2 |
And shoots his thought by hidden nerves | J2 |
Throughout the solid realm | N2 |
The patient D mon sits | J2 |
With roses and a shroud | O2 |
He has his way and deals his gifts | J2 |
But ours is not allowed | O2 |
- | |
He is no churl or trifler | C |
And his viceroy is none | P2 |
Love without weakness | J2 |
Of genius sire and son | P2 |
- | |
And his will is not thwarted | Q2 |
The seeds of land and sea | J2 |
Are the atoms of his body bright | A |
And his behest obey | D2 |
- | |
He serveth the servant | R2 |
The brave he loves amain | P2 |
He kills the cripple and the sick | S2 |
And straight begins again | P2 |
For gods delight in gods | J2 |
And thrust the weak aside | T2 |
To him who scorns their charities | J2 |
Their arms fly open wide | T2 |
- | |
When the old world is sterile | U2 |
And the ages are effete | V2 |
He will from wrecks and sediment | R2 |
The fairer world complete | V2 |
He forbids to despair | C |
His cheeks mantle with mirth | H2 |
And the unimagined good of men | P2 |
Is yeaning at the birth | H2 |
- | |
Spring still makes spring in the mind | E |
When sixty years are told | W2 |
- | |
Love wakes anew this throbbing heart | X2 |
And we are never old | W2 |
Over the winter glaciers | J2 |
I see the summer glow | Y2 |
And through the wild piled snowdrift | W2 |
The warm rose buds below | Y2 |
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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