The Old Oak. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAC DEDE FGFG HAHA IJIJ KLKL MNMN OLOL PQPQ RSRS RTRT UVUV WXWX YZA2Z B2C2B2C2 D2YD2A2 E2F2E2F2 DG2DG2 H2WH2W LI2LI2 ZJ2ZJ2 K2ZK2Z| Friend of my early days we meet once more | A |
| Once more I stand thine aged boughs beneath | B |
| And hear again the rustling music pour | A |
| Along thy leaves as whispering spirits breathe | C |
| - | |
| Full many a day of sunshine and of storm | D |
| Since last we parted both have surely known | E |
| Thy leaves are thinned decrepit is thy form | D |
| And all my cherished visions they are flown | E |
| - | |
| How beautiful how brief those sunny hours | F |
| Departed now when life was in its spring | G |
| When Fancy knew no scene undecked with flowers | F |
| And Expectation flew on Fancy's wing | G |
| - | |
| Here on the bank beside this whispering stream | H |
| Which still runs by as gayly as of yore | A |
| Marking its eddies I was wont to dream | H |
| Of things away on some far fairy shore | A |
| - | |
| Then every whirling leaf and bubbling ball | I |
| That floated by was full of radiant thought | J |
| Each linked with love had music at its call | I |
| And thrilling echoes o'er my bosom brought | J |
| - | |
| The bird that sang within this gnarled oak | K |
| The waves that dallied with its leafy shade | L |
| The mellow murmurs from its boughs that broke | K |
| Their joyous tribute to my spirit paid | L |
| - | |
| No phantom rose to tell of future ill | M |
| No grisly warning marr'd my prophet dreams | N |
| My heart translucent as the leaping rill | M |
| My thoughts all free and flashing at its beams | N |
| - | |
| Here is the grassy knoll I used to seek | O |
| At summer noon beneath the spreading shade | L |
| And watch the flowers that stooped with glowing cheek | O |
| To meet the romping ripples as they played | L |
| - | |
| Here is the spot which memory's magic glass | P |
| Hath often brought arrayed in fadeless green | Q |
| Making this oak this brook this waving grass | P |
| A simple group fond Nature's fairest scene | Q |
| - | |
| And as I roamed beside the Rhone or Rhine | R |
| Or other favored stream in after days | S |
| With jealous love this rivulet would shine | R |
| Full on my heart and claim accustomed praise | S |
| - | |
| And oh how oft by sorrow overborne | R |
| By care oppressed or bitter malice wrung | T |
| By friends betrayed or disappointment torn | R |
| My weary heart all sickened and unstrung | T |
| - | |
| Hath yearned to leave the bootless strife afar | U |
| And find beneath this oak a quiet grave | V |
| Where the rough echo of the world's loud jar | U |
| Yields to the music of the mellow wave | V |
| - | |
| And now again I stand this stream beside | W |
| Again I hear the silver ripples flow | X |
| I mark the whispers murmuring o'er the tide | W |
| And the light bubbles trembling as they go | X |
| - | |
| But oh the magic spell that lingered here | Y |
| In boyhood's golden age my heart to bless | Z |
| With the bright waves that rippled then so clear | A2 |
| Is lost in ocean's dull forgetfulness | Z |
| - | |
| Gone are the visions of that glorious time | B2 |
| Gone are the glancing birds I loved so well | C2 |
| Nor will they wake again their silver chime | B2 |
| From the deep tomb of night in which they dwell | C2 |
| - | |
| And if perchance some fleeting memories steal | D2 |
| Like far off echoes to my dreaming ear | Y |
| Away ungrasped the cheating visions wheel | D2 |
| As spectres start upon the wing of fear | A2 |
| - | |
| Alas the glorious sun which then was high | E2 |
| Touching each common thing with rosy light | F2 |
| Is darkly banished from the lowering sky | E2 |
| And life's dull onward pathway lies in night | F2 |
| - | |
| Yes I am changed and this gray gnarled form | D |
| Its leaves all scattered by the rending blast | G2 |
| Is but an image of my heart the storm | D |
| The storm of life doth make us such at last | G2 |
| - | |
| Farewell old oak I leave thee to the wind | H2 |
| And go to struggle with the chafing tide | W |
| Soon to the dust thy form shall be resigned | H2 |
| And I would sleep thy crumbling limbs beside | W |
| - | |
| Thy memory will pass thy sheltering shade | L |
| Will weave no more its tissue o'er the sod | I2 |
| And all thy leaves ungathered in the glade | L |
| Shall by the reckless hoof of time be trod | I2 |
| - | |
| My cherished hopes like shadows and like leaves | Z |
| Name fame and fortune each shall pass away | J2 |
| And all that castle building fancy weaves | Z |
| Shall sleep unthinking as the drowsy clay | J2 |
| - | |
| But from thy root another tree shall bloom | K2 |
| With living leaves its tossing boughs shall rise | Z |
| And the winged spirit bursting from the tomb | K2 |
| Oh shall it spring to light beyond these skies | Z |
Samuel Griswold Goodrich
(1)
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