The Widows' Tears; Or, Dirge Of Dorcas Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCDEFFE GGHHIIEJKE LMNNOOPQQP RRSSTUVIIV WXYZA2A2ALLA B2B2QQC2PQVVQ QQAAQQVAAV QQQQAAQAAQ QQAAD2E2AUTA| Come pity us all ye who see | A |
| Our harps hung on the willow tree | A |
| Come pity us ye passers by | B |
| Who see or hear poor widows' cry | B |
| Come pity us and bring your ears | C |
| And eyes to pity widows' tears | D |
| CHOR And when you are come hither | E |
| Then we will keep | F |
| A fast and weep | F |
| Our eyes out all together | E |
| - | |
| For Tabitha who dead lies here | G |
| Clean wash'd and laid out for the bier | G |
| O modest matrons weep and wail | H |
| For now the corn and wine must fail | H |
| The basket and the bin of bread | I |
| Wherewith so many souls were fed | I |
| CHOR Stand empty here for ever | E |
| And ah the poor | J |
| At thy worn door | K |
| Shall be relieved never | E |
| - | |
| Woe worth the time woe worth the day | L |
| That reft us of thee Tabitha | M |
| For we have lost with thee the meal | N |
| The bits the morsels and the deal | N |
| Of gentle paste and yielding dough | O |
| That thou on widows did bestow | O |
| CHOR All's gone and death hath taken | P |
| Away from us | Q |
| Our maundy thus | Q |
| Thy widows stand forsaken | P |
| - | |
| Ah Dorcas Dorcas now adieu | R |
| We bid the cruise and pannier too | R |
| Ay and the flesh for and the fish | S |
| Doled to us in that lordly dish | S |
| We take our leaves now of the loom | T |
| From whence the housewives' cloth did come | U |
| CHOR The web affords now nothing | V |
| Thou being dead | I |
| The worsted thread | I |
| Is cut that made us clothing | V |
| - | |
| Farewell the flax and reaming wool | W |
| With which thy house was plentiful | X |
| Farewell the coats the garments and | Y |
| The sheets the rugs made by thy hand | Z |
| Farewell thy fire and thy light | A2 |
| That ne'er went out by day or night | A2 |
| CHOR No or thy zeal so speedy | A |
| That found a way | L |
| By peep of day | L |
| To feed and clothe the needy | A |
| - | |
| But ah alas the almond bough | B2 |
| And olive branch is wither'd now | B2 |
| The wine press now is ta'en from us | Q |
| The saffron and the calamus | Q |
| The spice and spikenard hence is gone | C2 |
| The storax and the cinnamon | P |
| CHOR The carol of our gladness | Q |
| Has taken wing | V |
| And our late spring | V |
| Of mirth is turn'd to sadness | Q |
| - | |
| How wise wast thou in all thy ways | Q |
| How worthy of respect and praise | Q |
| How matron like didst thou go drest | A |
| How soberly above the rest | A |
| Of those that prank it with their plumes | Q |
| And jet it with their choice perfumes | Q |
| CHOR Thy vestures were not flowing | V |
| Nor did the street | A |
| Accuse thy feet | A |
| Of mincing in their going | V |
| - | |
| And though thou here liest dead we see | Q |
| A deal of beauty yet in thee | Q |
| How sweetly shews thy smiling face | Q |
| Thy lips with all diffused grace | Q |
| Thy hands though cold yet spotless white | A |
| And comely as the chrysolite | A |
| CHOR Thy belly like a hill is | Q |
| Or as a neat | A |
| Clean heap of wheat | A |
| All set about with lilies | Q |
| - | |
| Sleep with thy beauties here while we | Q |
| Will shew these garments made by thee | Q |
| These were the coats in these are read | A |
| The monuments of Dorcas dead | A |
| These were thy acts and thou shalt have | D2 |
| These hung as honours o'er thy grave | E2 |
| CHOR And after us distressed | A |
| Should fame be dumb | U |
| Thy very tomb | T |
| Would cry out Thou art blessed | A |
Robert Herrick
(1)
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