Edith Cavell Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCB BBDB EFBF BBBB BGHG EIFI JKLK BBEB BBBB MBNB OPQP BRSR GTBT UAVA| She was binding the wounds of her enemies when they came | A |
| The lint in her hand unrolled | B |
| They battered the door with their rifle butts crashed it in | C |
| She faced them gentle and bold | B |
| - | |
| They haled her before the judges where they sat | B |
| In their places helmet on head | B |
| With question and menace the judges assailed her Yes | D |
| I have broken your law she said | B |
| - | |
| I have tended the hurt and hidden the hunted have done | E |
| As a sister does to a brother | F |
| Because of a law that is greater than that you have made | B |
| Because I could do none other | F |
| - | |
| Deal as you will with me This is my choice to the end | B |
| To live in the life I vowed | B |
| She is self confessed they cried she is self condemned | B |
| She shall die that the rest may be cowed | B |
| - | |
| In the terrible hour of the dawn when the veins are cold | B |
| They led her forth to the wall | G |
| I have loved my land she said but it is not enough | H |
| Love requires of me all | G |
| - | |
| I will empty my heart of the bitterness hating none | E |
| And sweetness filled her brave | I |
| With a vision of understanding beyond the hour | F |
| That knelled to the waiting grave | I |
| - | |
| They bound her eyes but she stood as if she shone | J |
| The rifles it was that shook | K |
| When the hoarse command rang out They could not endure | L |
| That last that defenceless look | K |
| - | |
| And the officer strode and pistolled her surely ashamed | B |
| That men seasoned in blood | B |
| Should quail at a woman only a woman | E |
| As a flower stamped in the mud | B |
| - | |
| And now that the deed was securely done in the night | B |
| When none had known her fate | B |
| They answered those that had striven for her day by day | B |
| It is over you come too late | B |
| - | |
| And with many words and sorrowful phrased excuse | M |
| Argued their German right | B |
| To kill most legally hard though the duty be | N |
| The law must assert its might | B |
| - | |
| Only a woman yet she had pity on them | O |
| The victim offered slain | P |
| To the gods of fear that they worship Leave them there | Q |
| Red hands to clutch their gain | P |
| - | |
| She bewailed not herself and we will bewail her not | B |
| But with tears of pride rejoice | R |
| That an English soul was found so crystal clear | S |
| To be triumphant voice | R |
| - | |
| Of the human heart that dares adventure all | G |
| But live to itself untrue | T |
| And beyond all laws sees love as the light in the night | B |
| As the star it must answer to | T |
| - | |
| The hurts she healed the thousands comforted these | U |
| Make a fragrance of her fame | A |
| But because she stept to her star right on through death | V |
| It is Victory speaks her name | A |
Robert Laurence Binyon
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About Edith Cavell
Edith Cavell is a poem by Robert Laurence Binyon. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
Write your comment about Edith Cavell poem by Robert Laurence Binyon
Best Poems of Robert Laurence Binyon