God's Judgment On A Wicked Bishop Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CDDEE FFGG HIJJ DDKK LLMM LLNO KKPP QQMM LLLFF LLRR FFGG SSPP TTII RRUU DDDD EEIH DDDDVV WWXXThe summer and autumn had been so wet | A |
That in winter the corn was growing yet | A |
'Twas a piteous sight to see all around | B |
The grain lie rotting on the ground | B |
- | |
Every day the starving poor | C |
Crowded around Bishop Hatto's door | D |
For he had a plentiful last year's store | D |
And all the neighbourhood could tell | E |
His granaries were furnish'd well | E |
- | |
At last Bishop Hatto appointed a day | F |
To quiet the poor without delay | F |
He bade them to his great Barn repair | G |
And they should have food for the winter there | G |
- | |
Rejoiced such tidings good to hear | H |
The poor folk flock'd from far and near | I |
The great barn was full as it could hold | J |
Of women and children and young and old | J |
- | |
Then when he saw it could hold no more | D |
Bishop Hatto he made fast the door | D |
And while for mercy on Christ they call | K |
He set fire to the Barn and burnt them all | K |
- | |
I'faith 'tis an excellent bonfire quoth he | L |
And the country is greatly obliged to me | L |
For ridding it in these times forlorn | M |
Of Rats that only consume the corn | M |
- | |
So then to his palace returned he | L |
And he sat down to supper merrily | L |
And he slept that night like an innocent man | N |
But Bishop Hatto never slept again | O |
- | |
In the morning as he enter'd the hall | K |
Where his picture hung against the wall | K |
A sweat like death all over him came | P |
For the Rats had eaten it out of the frame | P |
- | |
As he look'd there came a man from his farm | Q |
He had a countenance white with alarm | Q |
My Lord I open'd your granaries this morn | M |
And the Rats had eaten all your corn | M |
- | |
Another came running presently | L |
And he was pale as pale could be | L |
Fly my Lord Bishop fly quoth he | L |
Ten thousand Rats are coming this way | F |
The Lord forgive you for yesterday | F |
- | |
I'll go to my tower on the Rhine replied he | L |
'Tis the safest place in Germany | L |
The walls are high and the shores are steep | R |
And the stream is strong and the water deep | R |
- | |
Bishop Hatto fearfully hasten'd away | F |
And he crost the Rhine without delay | F |
And reach'd his tower and barr'd with care | G |
All the windows doors and loop holes there | G |
- | |
He laid him down and closed his eyes | S |
But soon a scream made him arise | S |
He started and saw two eyes of flame | P |
On his pillow from whence the screaming came | P |
- | |
He listen'd and look'd it was only the Cat | T |
And the Bishop he grew more fearful for that | T |
For she sat screaming mad with fear | I |
At the Army of Rats that were drawing near | I |
- | |
For they have swum over the river so deep | R |
And they have climb'd the shores so steep | R |
And up the Tower their way is bent | U |
To do the work for which they were sent | U |
- | |
They are not to be told by the dozen or score | D |
By thousands they come and by myriads and more | D |
Such numbers had never been heard of before | D |
Such a judgment had never been witness'd of yore | D |
- | |
Down on his knees the Bishop fell | E |
And faster and faster his beads did he tell | E |
As louder and louder drawing near | I |
The gnawing of their teeth he could hear | H |
- | |
And in at the windows and in at the door | D |
And through the walls helter skelter they pour | D |
And down from the ceiling and up through the floor | D |
From the right and the left from behind and before | D |
From within and without from above and below | V |
And all at once to the Bishop they go | V |
- | |
They have whetted their teeth against the stones | W |
And now they pick the Bishop's bones | W |
They gnaw'd the flesh from every limb | X |
For they were sent to do judgment on him | X |
Robert Southey
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
<< Inscription 02 - For A Column At Newbury Poem
The Old Man's Comforts And How He Gained Them Poem>>
Write your comment about God's Judgment On A Wicked Bishop poem by Robert Southey
Best Poems of Robert Southey