The Pier-glass Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDEA FGAHIJKLCAC MNOPQRSTTJUAVWE TMTXYTZMARTTATTRA2RB 2RTTT E| Lost manor where I walk continually | A |
| A ghost while yet in woman's flesh and blood | B |
| Up your broad stairs mounting with outspread fingers | C |
| And gliding steadfast down your corridors | C |
| I come by nightly custom to this room | D |
| And even on sultry afternoons I come | E |
| Drawn by a thread of time sunk memory | A |
| - | |
| Empty unless for a huge bed of state | F |
| Shrouded with rusty curtains drooped awry | G |
| A puppet theatre where malignant fancy | A |
| Peoples the wings with fear At my right hand | H |
| A ravelled bell pull hangs in readiness | I |
| To summon me from attic glooms above | J |
| Service of elder ghosts here at my left | K |
| A sullen pier glass cracked from side to side | L |
| Scorns to present the face as do new mirrors | C |
| With a lying flush but shows it melancholy | A |
| And pale as faces grow that look in mirrors | C |
| - | |
| Is here no life nothing but the thin shadow | M |
| And blank foreboding never a wainscot rat | N |
| Rasping a crust Or at the window pane | O |
| No fly no bluebottle no starveling spider | P |
| The windows frame a prospect of cold skies | Q |
| Half merged with sea as at the first creation | R |
| Abstract confusing welter Face about | S |
| Peer rather in the glass once more take note | T |
| Of self the grey lips and long hair dishevelled | T |
| Sleep staring eyes Ah mirror for Christ's love | J |
| Give me one token that there still abides | U |
| Remote beyond this island mystery | A |
| So be it only this side Hope somewhere | V |
| In streams on sun warm mountain pasturage | W |
| True life natural breath not this phantasma | E |
| - | |
| A rumour scarcely yet to be reckoned sound | T |
| But a pulse quicker or slower then I know | M |
| My plea is granted death prevails not yet | T |
| For bees have swarmed behind in a close place | X |
| Pent up between this glass and the outer wall | Y |
| The combs are founded the queen rules her court | T |
| Bee sergeants posted at the entrance chink | Z |
| Are sampling each returning honey cargo | M |
| With scrutinizing mouth and commentary | A |
| Slow approbation quick dissatisfaction | R |
| Disquieting rhythm that leads me home at last | T |
| From labyrinthine wandering This new mood | T |
| Of judgement orders me my present duty | A |
| To face again a problem strongly solved | T |
| In life gone by but now again proposed | T |
| Out of due time for fresh deliberation | R |
| Did not my answer please the Master's ear | A2 |
| Yet I'll stay obstinate How went the question | R |
| A paltry question set on the elements | B2 |
| Of love and the wronged lover's obligation | R |
| Kill or forgive Still does the bed ooze blood | T |
| Let it drip down till every floor plank rot | T |
| Yet shall I answer challenging the judgement | T |
| 'Kill strike the blow again spite what shall come ' | - |
| 'Kill strike again again ' the bees in chorus hum | E |
Robert Graves
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