The Wild Huntsman Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABAC DEDE FGFG HIHJ KBKB LFLF MNM OBP FJF QR DSSS SFS SBSB ATA FTFT SSSS SFS UFUF A A SBSB ARAR FBFB SSSS SVBV BFB UFUF SWS A AT BFBF XFYF STS JFJF SSS UFUF RZR A AT SA2SB2 SASA C2D2SE2 F2G2F2G2 SH2SH2 FBFB SSS FI2FB2 BJ2BJ2 SBSB K2BK2B ATA FRFR VSVS L2M2N2D2 FTM2

The Wildgrave winds his bugle hornA
To horse to horse halloo hallooB
His fiery courser snuffs the mornA
And thronging serfs their lord pursueC
-
The eager pack from couples freedD
Dash through the bush the brier the brakeE
While answering hound and horn and steedD
The mountain echoes startling wakeE
-
The beams of God's own hallow'd dayF
Had painted yonder spire with goldG
And called sinful man to prayF
Loud long and deep the bell had toll'dG
-
But still the Wildgrave onward ridesH
Halloo halloo and hark againI
When spurring from opposing sidesH
Two Stranger Horsemen join the trainJ
-
Who was each Stranger left and rightK
Well may I guess but dare not tellB
The right hand steed was silver whiteK
The left the swarthy hue of hellB
-
The right hand Horseman young and fairL
His smile was like the morn of MayF
The left from eye of tawny glareL
Shot midnight lightning's lurid rayF
-
He waved his huntsman's cap on highM
Cried 'Welcome welcome noble lordN
What sport can earth or sea or skyM
To match the princely chase afford '-
-
'Cease thy loud bugle's changing knell '-
Cried the fair youth with silver voiceO
'And for devotion's choral swellB
Exchange the rude unhallow'd noiseP
-
'To day the ill omen'd chase forbearF
Yon bell yet summons to the faneJ
To day the Warning Spirit hearF
To morrow thou mayst mourn in vain '-
-
'Away and sweep the glades along '-
The Sable Hunter hoarse repliesQ
'To muttering monks leave matin songR
And bells and books and mysteries '-
-
The Wildgrave spurr'd his ardent steedD
And launching forward with a boundS
'Who for thy drowsy priestlike redeS
Would leave the jovial horn and houndS
-
'Hence if our manly sport offendS
With pious fools go chant and prayF
Well hast thou spoke my dark brow'd friendS
Halloo halloo and hark away '-
-
The Wildgrave spurr'd his courser lightS
O'er moss and moor o'er holt and hillB
And on the left and on the rightS
Each Stranger Horseman follow'd stillB
-
Up springs from yonder tangled thornA
A stag more white than mountain snowT
A louder rung the Wildgrave's hornA
'Hark forward forward holla ho '-
-
A heedless wretch has cross'd the wayF
He gasps the thundering hoofs belowT
But live who can or die who mayF
Still 'Forward forward ' on they goT
-
See where yon simple fences meetS
A field with Autumn's blessings crown'dS
See prostrate at the Wildgrave's feetS
A husbandman with toil embrown'dS
-
'O mercy mercy noble lordS
Spare the poor's pittance ' was his cryF
'Earn'd by the sweat these brows have pour'dS
In scorching hour of fierce July '-
-
Earnest the right hand Stranger pleadsU
The left still cheering to the preyF
The impetuous Earl no warning heedsU
But furious holds the onward wayF
-
'Away thou hound so basely bornA
Or dread the scourge's echoing blow '-
Then loudly rung his bugle hornA
'Hark forward forward holla ho '-
-
So said so done A single boundS
Clears the poor labourer's humble paleB
Wild follows man and horse and houndS
Like dark December's stormy galeB
-
And man and horse and hound and hornA
Destructive sweep the field alongR
While joying o'er the wasted cornA
Fell Famine marks the maddening throngR
-
Again uproused the timorous preyF
Scours moss and moor and holt and hillB
Hard run he feels his strength decayF
And trusts for life his simple skillB
-
Too dangerous solitude appear'dS
He seeks the shelter of the crowdS
Amid the flock's domestic herdS
His harmless head he hopes to shroudS
-
O'er moss and moor and holt and hiltS
His track the steady blood hounds traceV
O'er moss and moor unwearied stillB
The furious Earl pursues the chaseV
-
Full lowly did the herdsman fallB
'O spare thou noble Baron spareF
These herds a widow's little allB
These flocks an orphan's fleecy care '-
-
Earnest the right hand Stranger pleadsU
The left still cheering to the preyF
The Earl nor prayer nor pity heedsU
But furious keeps the onward wayF
-
'Unmanner'd dog To stop my sportS
Vain were thy cant and beggar whineW
Though human spirits of thy sortS
Were tenants of these carrion kine '-
-
Again he winds his bugle hornA
'Hark forward forward holla ho '-
And through the herd in ruthless scornA
He cheers his furious hounds to goT
-
In heaps the throttled victims fallB
Down sinks their mangled herdsman nearF
The murderous cries the stag appalB
Again he starts new nerved by fearF
-
With blood besmear'd and white with foamX
While big the tears of anguish pourF
He seeks amid the forest's gloomY
The humble hermit's hallow'd bowerF
-
But man and horse and horn and houndS
Fast rattling on his traces goT
The sacred chapel rung aroundS
With 'Hark away and holla ho '-
-
All mild amid the rout profaneJ
The holy hermit pour'd his prayerF
'Forbear with blood God's house to stainJ
Revere his altar and forbearF
-
'The meanest brute has rights to pleadS
Which wrong'd by cruelty or prideS
Draw vengeance on the ruthless headS
Be warn'd at length and turn aside '-
-
Still the Fair Horseman anxious pleadsU
The Black wild whooping points the preyF
Alas the Earl no warning heedsU
But frantic keeps the forward wayF
-
'Holy or not or right or wrongR
Thy altar and its rites I spurnZ
Not sainted martyr's sacred songR
Not God himself shall make me turn '-
-
He spurs his horse he winds his hornA
'Hark forward forward holla ho '-
But off on whirlwind's pinions borneA
The stag the hut the hermit goT
-
And horse and man and horn and houndS
And clamour of the chase was goneA2
For hoofs and howls and bugle soundS
A deadly silence reign'd aloneB2
-
Wild gazed the affrighted Earl aroundS
He strove in vain to wake his hornA
In vain to call for not a soundS
Could from his anxious lips be borneA
-
He listens for his trusty houndsC2
No distant baying reach'd his earsD2
His courser rooted to the groundS
The quickening spur unmindful bearsE2
-
Still dark and darker frown the shadesF2
Dark as the darkness of the graveG2
And not a sound the still invadesF2
Save what a distant torrent gaveG2
-
High o'er the sinner's humbled headS
At length the solemn silence brokeH2
And from a cloud of swarthy redS
The awful voice of thunder spokeH2
-
'Oppressor of creation fairF
Apostate Spirits' harden'd toolB
Scorner of God Scourge of the poorF
The measure of thy cup is fullB
-
'Be chased for ever through the woodS
For ever roam the affrighted wildS
And let thy fate instruct the proudS
God's meanest creature is his child '-
-
'Twas hush'd One flash of sombre glareF
With yellow tinged the forests brownI2
Uprose the Wildgrave's bristling hairF
And horror chill'd each nerve and boneB2
-
Cold pour'd the sweat in freezing rillB
A rising wind began to singJ2
And louder louder louder stillB
Brought storm and tempest on its wingJ2
-
Earth heard the call her entrails rendS
From yawning rifts with many a yellB
Mix'd with sulphureous flames ascendS
The misbegotten dogs of hellB
-
What ghastly Huntsman next aroseK2
Well may I guess but dare not tellB
His eye like midnight lightning glowsK2
His steed the swarthy hue of hellB
-
The Wildgrave flies o'er bush and thornA
With many a shriek of helpless woeT
Behind him hound and horse and hornA
And 'Hark away and holla ho '-
-
With wild despair's reverted eyeF
Close close behind he marks the throngR
With bloody fangs and eager cryF
In frantic fear he scours alongR
-
Still still shall last the dreadful chaseV
Till time itself shall have an endS
By day they scour earth's cavern'd spaceV
At midnight's witching hour ascendS
-
This is the horn and hound and horseL2
That oft the lated peasant hearsM2
Appall'd he signs the frequent crossN2
When the wild din invades his earsD2
-
The wakeful priest oft drops a tearF
For human pride for human woeT
When at his midnight mass he hearsM2
The infernal cry of 'Holla ho '-

Sir Walter Scott



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