To My Old Oak Table Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDEEFFGH BBIIJJKKLLMMNBOO PPQQRRSSTTUUIIVVWWBB XXYYUUBB AAZZYYDDA2A2B2B2C2C2 ED2E2E2GGF2G2IIH2H2 IIBBIII2I2J2J2K2L2M2 M2N2O2BBIII2I2P2Q2GH ZZR2R2B2B2ZZBBS2S2WW T2U2 V2| Friend of my peaceful days substantial friend | A |
| Whom wealth can never change nor int'rest bend | A |
| I love thee like a child Thou wert to me | B |
| The dumb companion of my misery | B |
| And oftner of my joys then as I spoke | C |
| I shar'd thy sympathy Old Heart of Oak | C |
| For surely when my labour ceas'd at night | D |
| With trembling feverish hands and aching sight | D |
| The draught that cheer'd me and subdu'd my care | E |
| On thy broad shoulders thou wert proud to bear | E |
| O'er thee with expectation's fire elate | F |
| I've sat and ponder'd on my future fate | F |
| On thee with winter muffins for thy store | G |
| I've lean'd and quite forgot that I was poor | H |
| - | |
| Where dropp'd the acorn that gave birth to thee | B |
| Can'st thou trace back thy line of ancestry | B |
| We're match'd old friend and let us not repine | I |
| Darkness o'erhangs thy origin and mine | I |
| Both may be truly honourable yet | J |
| We'll date our honours from the day we met | J |
| When of my worldly wealth the parent stock | K |
| Right welcome up the Thames from Woolwich Dock | K |
| Thou cam'st when hopes ran high and love was young | L |
| But soon our olive branches round thee sprung | L |
| Soon came the days that tried a faithful wife | M |
| The noise of children and the cares of life | M |
| Then midst the threat'nings of a wintry sky | N |
| That cough which blights the bud of infancy | B |
| The dread of parents Rest's inveterate foe | O |
| Came like a plague and turn'd my songs to woe | O |
| - | |
| Rest without thee what strength can long survive | P |
| What spirit keep the flame of Hope alive | P |
| The midnight murmur of the cradle gave | Q |
| Sounds of despair and chilly as the grave | Q |
| We felt its undulating blast arise | R |
| Midst whisper'd sorrows and ten thousand sighs | R |
| Expiring embers warn'd us each to sleep | S |
| By turns to watch alone by turns to weep | S |
| By turns to hear and keep from starting wild | T |
| The sad faint wailings of a dying child | T |
| But Death obedient to Heav'n's high command | U |
| Withdrew his jav'lin and unclench'd his hand | U |
| The little sufferers triumph'd over pain | I |
| Their mother smil'd and bade me hope again | I |
| Yet Care gain'd ground Exertion triumph'd less | V |
| Thick fell the gathering terrors of Distress | V |
| Anxiety and Griefs without a name | W |
| Had made their dreadful inroads on my frame | W |
| The creeping Dropsy cold as cold could be | B |
| Unnerv'd my arm and bow'd my head to thee | B |
| Thou to thy trust old friend hast not been true | X |
| These eyes the bitterest tears they ever knew | X |
| Let fall upon thee now all wip'd away | Y |
| But what from memory shall wipe out that day | Y |
| The great the wealthy of my native land | U |
| To whom a guinea is a grain of sand | U |
| I thought upon them for my thoughts were free | B |
| But all unknown were then my woes and me | B |
| - | |
| Still Resignation was my dearest friend | A |
| And Reason pointed to a glorious end | A |
| With anxious sighs a parent's hopes and pride | Z |
| I wish'd to live I trust I could have died | Z |
| But winter's clouds pursu'd their stormy way | Y |
| And March brought sunshine with the length'ning day | Y |
| And bade my heart arise that morn and night | D |
| Now throbb'd with irresistible delight | D |
| Delightful 'twas to leave disease behind | A2 |
| And feel the renovation of the mind | A2 |
| To lead abroad upborne on Pleasure's wing | B2 |
| Our children midst the glories of the spring | B2 |
| Our fellow sufferers our only wealth | C2 |
| To gather daisies in the breeze of health | C2 |
| - | |
| 'Twas then too when our prospects grew so fair | E |
| And Sabbath bells announc'd the morning pray'r | D2 |
| Beneath that vast gigantic dome we bow'd | E2 |
| That lifts its flaming cross above the cloud | E2 |
| Had gain'd the centre of the checquer'd floor | G |
| That instant with reverberating roar | G |
| Burst forth the pealing organ mute we stood | F2 |
| The strong sensation boiling through my blood | G2 |
| Rose in a storm of joy allied to pain | I |
| I wept and worshipp'd GOD and wept again | I |
| And felt amidst the fervor of my praise | H2 |
| The sweet assurances of better days | H2 |
| - | |
| In that gay season honest friend of mine | I |
| I mark'd the brilliant sun upon thee shine | I |
| Imagination took her flights so free | B |
| Home was delicious with my book and thee | B |
| The purchas'd nosegay or brown ears of corn | I |
| Were thy gay plumes upon a summer's morn | I |
| Awakening memory that disdains control | I2 |
| They spoke the darling language of my soul | I2 |
| They whisper'd tales of joy of peace of truth | J2 |
| And conjur'd back the sunshine of my youth | J2 |
| Fancy presided at the joyful birth | K2 |
| I pour'd the torrent of my feelings forth | L2 |
| Conscious of truth in Nature's humble track | M2 |
| And wrote The Farmer's Boy upon thy back | M2 |
| Enough old friend thou'rt mine and shalt partake | N2 |
| While I have pen to write or tongue to speak | O2 |
| Whatever fortune deals me Part with thee | B |
| No not till death shall set my spirit free | B |
| For know should plenty crown my life's decline | I |
| A most important duty may be thine | I |
| Then guard me from Temptation's base control | I2 |
| From apathy and littleness of soul | I2 |
| The sight of thy old frame so rough so rode | P2 |
| Shall twitch the sleeve of nodding Gratitude | Q2 |
| Shall teach me but to venerate the more | G |
| Honest Oak Tables and their guests the poor | H |
| Teach me unjust distinctions to deride | Z |
| And falsehoods gender'd in the brain of Pride | Z |
| Shall give to Fancy still the cheerful hour | R2 |
| To Intellect its freedom and its power | R2 |
| To Hospitality's enchanting ring | B2 |
| A charm which nothing but thyself can bring | B2 |
| The man who would not look with honest pride | Z |
| On the tight bark that stemm'd the roaring tide | Z |
| And bore him when he bow'd the trembling knee | B |
| Home through the mighty perils of the sea | B |
| I love him not He ne'er shall be my guest | S2 |
| Nor sip my cup nor witness how I'm blest | S2 |
| Nor lean to bring my honest friend to shame | W |
| A sacrilegious elbow on thy frame | W |
| But thou through life a monitor shalt prove | T2 |
| Sacred to Truth to Poetry and Love | U2 |
| - | |
| Dec | V2 |
Robert Bloomfield
(1)
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About To My Old Oak Table
To My Old Oak Table is a poem by Robert Bloomfield. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.