Tomlinson Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCDEEEFEEAAEGEAAH HIEJJEKELLBEMEENNKE OOPQJRCRFEFGGIISSEEE EEETEAAKEHHUEVVEEWWE EMXEENEEEYYZEA2A2EEB BEEFEB2B2WWEEC2C2EEA EAFFLLEEA2Now Tomlinson gave up the ghost in his house in Berkeley Square | A |
And a Spirit came to his bedside and gripped him by the hair | A |
A Spirit gripped him by the hair and carried him far away | B |
Till he heard as the roar of a rain fed ford the roar of the Milky Way | B |
Till he heard the roar of the Milky Way die down and drone and cease | C |
And they came to the Gate within the Wall where Peter holds the keys | D |
quot Stand up stand up now Tomlinson and answer loud and high | E |
The good that ye did for the sake of men or ever ye came to die | E |
The good that ye did for the sake of men in little earth so lone quot | E |
And the naked soul of Tomlinson grew white as a rain washed bone | F |
quot O I have a friend on earth quot he said quot that was my priest and guide | E |
And well would he answer all for me if he were by my side quot | E |
quot For that ye strove in neighbour love it shall be written fair | A |
But now ye wait at Heaven's Gate and not in Berkeley Square | A |
Though we called your friend from his bed this night | E |
he could not speak for you | G |
For the race is run by one and one and never by two and two quot | E |
Then Tomlinson looked up and down and little gain was there | A |
For the naked stars grinned overhead and he saw that his soul was bare | A |
The Wind that blows between the worlds it cut him like a knife | H |
And Tomlinson took up his tale and spoke of his good in life | H |
quot This I have read in a book quot he said quot and that was told to me | I |
And this I have thought that another man thought of a Prince in Muscovy quot | E |
The good souls flocked like homing doves and bade him clear the path | J |
And Peter twirled the jangling keys in weariness and wrath | J |
quot Ye have read ye have heard ye have thought quot he said | E |
quot and the tale is yet to run | K |
By the worth of the body that once ye had give answer what ha' ye done quot | E |
Then Tomlinson looked back and forth and little good it bore | L |
For the Darkness stayed at his shoulder blade and Heaven's Gate before | L |
quot O this I have felt and this I have guessed and this I have heard men say | B |
And this they wrote that another man wrote of a carl in Norroway quot | E |
quot Ye have read ye have felt ye have guessed good lack | M |
Ye have hampered Heaven's Gate | E |
There's little room between the stars in idleness to prate | E |
O none may reach by hired speech of neighbour priest and kin | N |
Through borrowed deed to God's good meed that lies so fair within | N |
Get hence get hence to the Lord of Wrong for doom has yet to run | K |
And the faith that ye share with Berkeley Square uphold you Tomlinson quot | E |
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The Spirit gripped him by the hair and sun by sun they fell | O |
Till they came to the belt of Naughty Stars that rim the mouth of Hell | O |
The first are red with pride and wrath the next are white with pain | P |
But the third are black with clinkered sin that cannot burn again | Q |
They may hold their path they may leave their path | J |
with never a soul to mark | R |
They may burn or freeze but they must not cease | C |
in the Scorn of the Outer Dark | R |
The Wind that blows between the worlds it nipped him to the bone | F |
And he yearned to the flare of Hell Gate | E |
there as the light of his own hearth stone | F |
The Devil he sat behind the bars where the desperate legions drew | G |
But he caught the hasting Tomlinson and would not let him through | G |
quot Wot ye the price of good pit coal that I must pay quot said he | I |
quot That ye rank yoursel' so fit for Hell and ask no leave of me | I |
I am all o'er sib to Adam's breed that ye should give me scorn | S |
For I strove with God for your First Father the day that he was born | S |
Sit down sit down upon the slag and answer loud and high | E |
The harm that ye did to the Sons of Men or ever you came to die quot | E |
And Tomlinson looked up and up and saw against the night | E |
The belly of a tortured star blood red in Hell Mouth light | E |
And Tomlinson looked down and down and saw beneath his feet | E |
The frontlet of a tortured star milk white in Hell Mouth heat | E |
quot O I had a love on earth quot said he quot that kissed me to my fall | T |
And if ye would call my love to me I know she would answer all quot | E |
quot All that ye did in love forbid it shall be written fair | A |
But now ye wait at Hell Mouth Gate and not in Berkeley Square | A |
Though we whistled your love from her bed to night I trow she would not run | K |
For the sin ye do by two and two ye must pay for one by one quot | E |
The Wind that blows between the worlds it cut him like a knife | H |
And Tomlinson took up the tale and spoke of his sin in life | H |
quot Once I ha' laughed at the power of Love and twice at the grip of the Grave | U |
And thrice I ha' patted my God on the head that men might call me brave quot | E |
The Devil he blew on a brandered soul and set it aside to cool | V |
quot Do ye think I would waste my good pit coal on the hide of a brain sick fool | V |
I see no worth in the hobnailed mirth or the jolthead jest ye did | E |
That I should waken my gentlemen that are sleeping three on a grid quot | E |
Then Tomlinson looked back and forth and there was little grace | W |
For Hell Gate filled the houseless Soul with the Fear of Naked Space | W |
quot Nay this I ha' heard quot quo' Tomlinson quot and this was noised abroad | E |
And this I ha' got from a Belgian book on the word of a dead French lord quot | E |
quot Ye ha' heard ye ha' read ye ha' got good lack | M |
and the tale begins afresh | X |
Have ye sinned one sin for the pride o' the eye | E |
or the sinful lust of the flesh quot | E |
Then Tomlinson he gripped the bars and yammered quot Let me in | N |
For I mind that I borrowed my neighbour's wife to sin the deadly sin quot | E |
The Devil he grinned behind the bars and banked the fires high | E |
quot Did ye read of that sin in a book quot said he and Tomlinson said quot Ay quot | E |
The Devil he blew upon his nails and the little devils ran | Y |
And he said quot Go husk this whimpering thief that comes in the guise of a man | Y |
Winnow him out 'twixt star and star and sieve his proper worth | Z |
There's sore decline in Adam's line if this be spawn of earth quot | E |
Empusa's crew so naked new they may not face the fire | A2 |
But weep that they bin too small to sin to the height of their desire | A2 |
Over the coal they chased the Soul and racked it all abroad | E |
As children rifle a caddis case or the raven's foolish hoard | E |
And back they came with the tattered Thing as children after play | B |
And they said quot The soul that he got from God he has bartered clean away | B |
We have threshed a stook of print and book and winnowed a chattering wind | E |
And many a soul wherefrom he stole but his we cannot find | E |
We have handled him we have dandled him we have seared him to the bone | F |
And sure if tooth and nail show truth he has no soul of his own quot | E |
The Devil he bowed his head on his breast and rumbled deep and low | B2 |
quot I'm all o'er sib to Adam's breed that I should bid him go | B2 |
Yet close we lie and deep we lie and if I gave him place | W |
My gentlemen that are so proud would flout me to my face | W |
They'd call my house a common stews and me a careless host | E |
And I would not anger my gentlemen for the sake of a shiftless ghost quot | E |
The Devil he looked at the mangled Soul that prayed to feel the flame | C2 |
And he thought of Holy Charity but he thought of his own good name | C2 |
quot Now ye could haste my coal to waste and sit ye down to fry | E |
Did ye think of that theft for yourself quot said he and Tomlinson said quot Ay quot | E |
The Devil he blew an outward breath for his heart was free from care | A |
quot Ye have scarce the soul of a louse quot he said | E |
quot but the roots of sin are there | A |
And for that sin should ye come in were I the lord alone | F |
But sinful pride has rule inside and mightier than my own | F |
Honour and Wit fore damned they sit to each his priest and whore | L |
Nay scarce I dare myself go there and you they'd torture sore | L |
Ye are neither spirit nor spirk quot he said quot ye are neither book nor brute | E |
Go get ye back to the flesh again for the sake of Man's repute | E |
I'm all o'er | A2 |
Rudyard Kipling
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