Ursula Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCDEE FFG HHIIJJBBKKLLMMNNBBOO LL PGQQCCRRSSTTUUVVVWWI IXXYYZ ZA2YEEB2B2BBC2C2D2D2 E2E2K KF2F2RRDDG2G2AABBB BH2H2I2I2A2A2RRB J2J2K2K2KKI2I2L2L2M2 M2

There is a village in a southern landA
By rounded hills closed in on every handA
The streets slope steeply to the market squareB
Long lines of white washed houses clean and fairB
With roofs irregular and steps of stoneC
Ascending to the front of every oneD
The people swarthy idle full of mirthE
Live mostly by the tillage of the earthE
-
Upon the northern hill top looking downF
Like some sequestered saint upon the townF
Stands the great conventG
-
On a summer nightH
Ten years ago the moon with rising lightH
Made all the convent towers as clear as dayI
While still in deepest shade the village layI
Both light and shadow with repose were filledJ
The village sounds the convent bells were stilledJ
No foot in all the streets was now astirB
And in the convent none kept watch but herB
Whom they called Ursula The moonlight fellK
Brightly around her in the lonely cellK
Her eyes were dark and full of unshed woeL
Like mountain tarns which cannot overflowL
Surcharged with rain and round about the eyesM
Deep rings recorded sleepless nights and criesM
Stifled before their birth Her brow was paleN
And like a marble temple in a valeN
Of cypress trees shone shadowed by her hairB
So still she was that had you seen her thereB
You might have thought you were beholding deathO
Her lips were parted but if any breathO
Came from between them it were hard to knowL
By any movement of her breast of snowL
-
But when the summer night was now far spentP
She kneeled upon the floor Her head she leantG
Down on the cold stone of the window seatQ
God knows if there were any vital heatQ
In those pale brows or if they chilled the stoneC
And as she knelt she made a bitter moanC
With words that issued from a bitter soulR
O Mary Mother and is this thy goalR
Thy peace which waiteth for the world worn heartS
Is it for this I live and die apartS
From all that once I knew O Holy GodT
Is this the blessed chastening of Thy rodT
Which only wounds to heal Is this the crossU
That I must carry counting all for lossU
Which once was precious in the world to meV
If Thou be God blot out my memoryV
And let me come forsaking all to TheeV
But here though that old world beholds me notW
Here though I seek Thee through my lonely lotW
Here though I fast do penance day by dayI
Kneel at Thy feet and ever watch and prayI
Beloved forms from that forsaken worldX
Revisit me The pale blue smoke is curledX
Up from the dwellings of the sons of menY
I see it and all my heart turns back againY
From seeking Thee to find the forms I loveZ
-
Thou with Thy saints abiding far aboveZ
What canst Thou know of this my earthly painA2
They said to me Thou shalt be born againY
And learn that worldly things are nothing worthE
In that new state O God is this new birthE
Birth of the spirit dying to the fleshB2
Are these the living waters which refreshB2
The thirsty spirit that it thirst no moreB
Still all my life is thirsting to the coreB
Thou canst not satisfy if this be ThouC2
And yet I dream or I remember howC2
Before I came here while I tarried yetD2
Among the friends they tell me to forgetD2
I never seemed to seek Thee but I foundE2
Thou wert in all the loveliness aroundE2
And most of all in hearts that loved me wellK
-
And then I came to seek Thee in this cellK
To crucify my worldliness and prideF2
To lay my heart's affections all asideF2
As carnal hindrances which held my soulR
From hasting unencumbered to her goalR
And all this have I done or else have strivenD
To do obeying the behest of HeavenD
And my reward is bitterness I seemG2
To wander always in a feverish dreamG2
On plains where there is only sun and sandA
No rock or tree in all the weary landA
My thirst unquenchable my heart burnt dryB
And still in my parched throat I faintly cryB
Deliver me O Lord bow down Thine earB
-
He will not answer me He does not hearB
I am alone within the universeH2
Oh for a strength of will to rise and curseH2
God and defy Him here to strike me deadI2
But my heart fails me and I bow my headI2
And cry to Him for mercy still in vainA2
Oh for some sudden agony of painA2
To make such insurrection in my soulR
That I might burst all bondage of controlR
Be for one moment as the beasts that dieB
And pour my life in one blaspheming cry '-
-
The morning came and all the convent towersJ2
Were gilt with glory by the golden hoursJ2
But where was Ursula The sisters cameK2
With quiet footsteps calling her by nameK2
But there was none that answered In her cellK
The glad illuminating sunshine fellK
On form and face and showed that she was deadI2
May Christ receive her soul ' the sisters saidI2
And spoke in whispers of her holy lifeL2
And how God's mercy spared her pain and strifeL2
And gave this quiet death The face was stillM2
Like a tired child's that lies and sleeps its fillM2

Robert Fuller Murray



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