Eclogue Vi: The Ruined Cottage Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST USVWVXVYZA2B2C2D2E2F 2E2BHG2E2E2VH2E2I2E2 J2E2E2K2CHCVE2J2E2E2 L2E2E2E2E2M2CVEVE2N2 VE2F2O2SVD2VP2E2VA2E 2VQ2R2G2N2Q2VE2E2E2A 2E2S2T2 VC2FE2VVE2E2U2V2W2 VI2VVH

Aye Charles I knew that this would fix thine eyeA
This woodbine wreathing round the broken porchB
Its leaves just withering yet one autumn flowerC
Still fresh and fragrant and yon holly hockD
That thro' the creeping weeds and nettles tallE
Peers taller and uplifts its column'd stemF
Bright with the broad rose blossoms I have seenG
Many a fallen convent reverend in decayH
And many a time have trod the castle courtsI
And grass green halls yet never did they strikeJ
Home to the heart such melancholy thoughtsK
As this poor cottage Look its little hatchL
Fleeced with that grey and wintry moss the roofM
Part mouldered in the rest o'ergrown with weedsN
House leek and long thin grass and greener mossO
So Nature wars with all the works of manP
And like himself reduces back to earthQ
His perishable pilesR
I led thee hereS
Charles not without design for this hath beenT
My favourite walk even since I was a boyU
And I remember Charles this ruin hereS
The neatest comfortable dwelling placeV
That when I read in those dear books that firstW
Woke in my heart the love of poesyV
How with the villagers Erminia dweltX
And Calidore for a fair shepherdessV
Forgot his quest to learn the shepherd's loreY
My fancy drew from this the little hutZ
Where that poor princess wept her hopeless loveA2
Or where the gentle Calidore at eveB2
Led Pastorella home There was not thenC2
A weed where all these nettles overtopD2
The garden wall but sweet briar scenting sweetE2
The morning air rosemary and marjoramF2
All wholesome herbs and then that woodbine wreath'dE2
So lavishly around the pillared porchB
Its fragrant flowers that when I past this wayH
After a truant absence hastening homeG2
I could not chuse but pass with slacken'd speedE2
By that delightful fragrance Sadly changedE2
Is this poor cottage and its dwellers CharlesV
Theirs is a simple melancholy taleH2
There's scarce a village but can fellow itE2
And yet methinks it will not weary theeI2
And should not be untoldE2
A widow womanJ2
Dwelt with her daughter here just above wantE2
She lived on some small pittance that sufficedE2
In better times the needful calls of lifeK2
Not without comfort I remember herC
Sitting at evening in that open door wayH
And spinning in the sun methinks I see herC
Raising her eyes and dark rimm'd spectaclesV
To see the passer by yet ceasing notE2
To twirl her lengthening thread Or in the gardenJ2
On some dry summer evening walking roundE2
To view her flowers and pointing as she lean'dE2
Upon the ivory handle of her stickL2
To some carnation whose o'erheavy headE2
Needed support while with the watering potE2
Joanna followed and refresh'd and trimm'dE2
The drooping plant Joanna her dear childE2
As lovely and as happy then as youthM2
And innocence could make herC
Charles it seemsV
As tho' I were a boy again and allE
The mediate years with their vicissitudesV
A half forgotten dream I see the MaidE2
So comely in her Sunday dress her hairN2
Her bright brown hair wreath'd in contracting curlsV
And then her cheek it was a red and whiteE2
That made the delicate hues of art look loathsomeF2
The countrymen who on their way to churchO2
Were leaning o'er the bridge loitering to hearS
The bell's last summons and in idlenessV
Watching the stream below would all look upD2
When she pass'd by And her old Mother CharlesV
When I have beard some erring infidelP2
Speak of our faith as of a gloomy creedE2
Inspiring fear and boding wretchednessV
Her figure has recurr'd for she did loveA2
The sabbath day and many a time has cross'dE2
These fields in rain and thro' the winter snowsV
When I a graceless boy wishing myselfQ2
By the fire side have wondered why 'she' cameR2
Who might have sate at homeG2
One only careN2
Hung on her aged spirit For herselfQ2
Her path was plain before her and the closeV
Of her long journey near But then her childE2
Soon to be left alone in this bad worldE2
That was a thought that many a winter nightE2
Had kept her sleepless and when prudent loveA2
In something better than a servant's slateE2
Had placed her well at last it was a pangS2
Like parting life to part with her dear girlT2
-
One summer Charles when at the holydaysV
Return'd from school I visited againC2
My old accustomed walks and found in themF
A joy almost like meeting an old friendE2
I saw the cottage empty and the weedsV
Already crowding the neglected flowersV
Joanna by a villain's wiles seducedE2
Had played the wanton and that blow had reach'dE2
Her mother's heart She did not suffer longU2
Her age was feeble and the heavy blowV2
Brought her grey hairs with sorrow to the graveW2
-
I pass this ruin'd dwelling oftentimesV
And think of other days It wakes in meI2
A transient sadness but the feelings CharlesV
That ever with these recollections riseV
I trust in God they will not pass awayH

Robert Southey



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