The Bell Buoy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCD EFEGGDGD HIHIIJKJ LMLMMMMM NNNNNMOM NPNPPLQL RSRSSMTM UNUNNNJM KNKNNNNMNM| They christened my brother of old | A |
| And a saintly name he bears | B |
| They gave him his place to hold | A |
| At the head of the belfry stairs | B |
| Where the minister towers stand | C |
| And the breeding kestrels cry | D |
| Would I change with my brother a league inland | C |
| Shoal 'Ware shoal Not I | D |
| - | |
| In the flush of the hot June prime | E |
| O'er sleek flood tides afire | F |
| I hear him hurry the chime | E |
| To the bidding of checked Desire | G |
| Till the sweated ringers tire | G |
| And the wild bob majors die | D |
| Could I wait for my turn in the godly choir | G |
| Shoal 'Ware shoal Not I | D |
| - | |
| When the smoking scud is blown | H |
| When the greasy wind rack lowers | I |
| Apart and at peace and alone | H |
| He counts the changeless hours | I |
| He wars with darkling Powers | I |
| I war with a darkling sea | J |
| Would he stoop to my work in the gusty mirk | K |
| Shoal 'Ware shoal Not he | J |
| - | |
| There was never a priest to pray | L |
| There was never a hand to toll | M |
| When they made me guard of the bay | L |
| And moored me over the shoal | M |
| I rock I reel and I roll | M |
| My four great hammers ply | M |
| Could I speak or be still at the Church's will | M |
| Shoal 'Ware shoal Not I | M |
| - | |
| The landward marks have failed | N |
| The fog bank glides unguessed | N |
| The seaward lights are veiled | N |
| The spent deep feigns her rest | N |
| But my ear is laid to her breast | N |
| I lift to the swell I cry | M |
| Could I wait in sloth on the Church's oath | O |
| Shoal 'Ware shoal Not I | M |
| - | |
| At the careless end of night | N |
| I thrill to the nearing screw | P |
| I turn in the clearing light | N |
| And I call to the drowsy crew | P |
| And the mud boils foul and blue | P |
| As the blind bow backs away | L |
| Will they give me their thanks if they clear the banks | Q |
| Shoal 'Ware shoal Not they | L |
| - | |
| The beach pools cake and skim | R |
| The bursting spray heads freeze | S |
| I gather on crown and rim | R |
| The grey grained ice of the seas | S |
| Where sheathed from bitt to trees | S |
| The plunging colliers lie | M |
| Would I barter my place for the Church's grace | T |
| Shoal 'Ware shoal Not I | M |
| - | |
| Through the blur of the whirling snow | U |
| Or the black of the inky sleet | N |
| The lanterns gather and grow | U |
| And I look for the homeward fleet | N |
| Rattle of block and sheet | N |
| quot Ready about stand by quot | N |
| Shall I ask them a fee ere they fetch the quay | J |
| Shoal 'Ware shoal Not I | M |
| - | |
| I dip and I surge and I swing | K |
| In the rip of the racing tide | N |
| By the gates of doom I sing | K |
| On the horns of death I ride | N |
| A ship length overside | N |
| Between the course and the sand | N |
| Fretted and bound I bide | N |
| Peril whereof I cry | M |
| Would I change with my brother a league inland | N |
| Shoal 'Ware shoal Not I | M |
Rudyard Kipling
(1)
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