The Hemp Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A B CDCD CCEEE FFF GG HHH II JJJ KK CCC DDD LL MMNN OO PPP CCC QQRQ STUT B VV WWW XX YYY ZZZ A2A2A2 CC FF ZZ CC CCC II CC FF B2B2 CC C2C2C2 CC ZZ CC D2D2D2 B CDCD EE E2E2 ZZZ GG F2F2 G2G2 JJ H2H2 E2E2 I2I2 ZZ J2J2 K2K2 KK L2L2L2 M2M2QM2 N2N2E2O2 P2P2E2P2 CCQ2C

A Virginia LegendA
-
The Planting of the HempB
-
Captain Hawk scourged clean the seasC
Black is the gap below the plankD
From the Great North Bank to the CaribbeesC
Down by the marsh the hemp grows rankD
-
His fear was on the seaport townsC
The weight of his hand held hard the downsC
And the merchants cursed him bitter and blackE
For a red flame in the sea fog's wrackE
Was all of their ships that might come backE
-
For all he had one word aloneF
One clod of dirt in their faces thrownF
The hemp that shall hang me is not grownF
-
His name bestrode the seas like DeathG
The waters trembled at his breathG
-
This is the tale of how he fellH
Of the long sweep and the heavy swellH
And the rope that dragged him down to hellH
-
The fight was done and the gutted shipI
Stripped like a shark the sea gulls stripI
-
Lurched blindly eaten out with flameJ
Back to the land from where she cameJ
A skimming horror an eyeless shameJ
-
And Hawk stood upon his quarter deckK
And saw the sky and saw the wreckK
-
Below a butt for sailors' jeersC
White as the sky when a white squall nearsC
Huddled the crowd of the prisonersC
-
Over the bridge of the tottering plankD
Where the sea shook and the gulf yawned blankD
They shrieked and struggled and dropped and sankD
-
Pinioned arms and hands bound fastL
One girl alone was left at lastL
-
Sir Henry Gaunt was a mighty lordM
He sat in state at the Council boardM
The governors were as nought to himN
From one rim to the other rimN
-
Of his great plantations flung out wideO
Like a purple cloak was a full month's rideO
-
Life and death in his white hands layP
And his only daughter stood at bayP
Trapped like a hare in the toils that dayP
-
He sat at wine in his gold and his laceC
And far away in a bloody placeC
Hawk came near and she covered her faceC
-
He rode in the fields and the hunt was braveQ
And far away his daughter gaveQ
A shriek that the seas cried out to hearR
And he could not see and he could not saveQ
-
Her white soul withered in the mireS
As paper shrivels up in fireT
And Hawk laughed and he kissed her mouthU
And her body he took for his desireT
-
-
The Growing of the HempB
-
Sir Henry stood in the manor roomV
And his eyes were hard gems in the gloomV
-
And he said Go dig me furrows fiveW
Where the green marsh creeps like a thing aliveW
There at its edge where the rushes thriveW
-
And where the furrows rent the groundX
He sowed the seed of hemp aroundX
-
And the blacks shrink back and are sore afraidY
At the furrows five that rib the gladeY
And the voodoo work of the master's spadeY
-
For a cold wind blows from the marshland nearZ
And white things move and the night grows drearZ
And they chatter and crouch and are sick with fearZ
-
But down by the marsh where the gray slaves gleanA2
The hemp sprouts up and the earth is seenA2
Veiled with a tenuous mist of greenA2
-
And Hawk still scourges the CaribbeesC
And many men kneel at his kneesC
-
Sir Henry sits in his house aloneF
And his eyes are hard and dull like stoneF
-
And the waves beat and the winds roarZ
And all things are as they were beforeZ
-
And the days pass and the weeks passC
And nothing changes but the grassC
-
But down where the fireflies are like eyesC
And the damps shudder and the mists riseC
The hemp stalks stand up toward the skiesC
-
And down from the poop of the pirate shipI
A body falls and the great sharks gripI
-
Innocent lovely go in graceC
At last there is peace upon your faceC
-
And Hawk laughs loud as the corpse is thrownF
The hemp that shall hang me is not grownF
-
Sir Henry's face is iron to markB2
And he gazes ever in the darkB2
-
And the days pass and the weeks passC
And the world is as it always wasC
-
But down by the marsh the sickles beamC2
Glitter on glitter gleam on gleamC2
And the hemp falls down by the stagnant streamC2
-
And Hawk beats up from the CaribbeesC
Swooping to pounce in the Northern seasC
-
Sir Henry sits sunk deep in his chairZ
And white as his hand is grown his hairZ
-
And the days pass and the weeks passC
And the sands roll from the hour glassC
-
But down by the marsh in the blazing sunD2
The hemp is smoothed and twisted and spunD2
The rope made and the work doneD2
-
-
The Using of the HempB
-
Captain Hawk scourged clean the seasC
Black is the gap below the plankD
From the Great North Bank to the CaribbeesC
Down by the marsh the hemp grows rankD
-
He sailed in the broad Atlantic trackE
And the ships that saw him came not backE
-
And once again where the wide tides ranE2
He stooped to harry a merchantmanE2
-
He bade her stop Ten guns spake trueZ
From her hidden ports and a hidden crewZ
Lacking his great ship through and throughZ
-
Dazed and dumb with the sudden deathG
He scarce had time to draw a breathG
-
Before the grappling irons bit deepF2
And the boarders slew his crew like sheepF2
-
Hawk stood up straight his breast to the steelG2
His cutlass made a bloody wheelG2
-
His cutlass made a wheel of flameJ
They shrank before him as he cameJ
-
And the bodies fell in a choking crowdH2
And still he thundered out aloudH2
-
The hemp that shall hang me is not grownE2
They fled at last He was left aloneE2
-
Before his foe Sir Henry stoodI2
The hemp is grown and my word made goodI2
-
And the cutlass clanged with a hissing whirZ
On the lashing blade of the rapierZ
-
Hawk roared and charged like a maddened buckJ2
As the cobra strikes Sir Henry struckJ2
-
Pouring his life in a single thrustK2
And the cutlass shivered to sparks and dustK2
-
Sir Henry stood on the blood stained deckK
And set his foot on his foe's neckK
-
Then from the hatch where the rent decks slopeL2
Where the dead roll and the wounded gropeL2
He dragged the serpent of the ropeL2
-
The sky was blue and the sea was stillM2
The waves lapped softly hill on hillM2
And between one wave and another waveQ
The doomed man's cries were little and shrillM2
-
The sea was blue and the sky was calmN2
The air dripped with a golden balmN2
Like a wind blown fruit between sea and sunE2
A black thing writhed at a yard armO2
-
Slowly then and awesomelyP2
The ship sank and the gallows treeP2
And there was nought between sea and sunE2
Nought but the sun and the sky and the seaP2
-
But down by the marsh where the fever breedsC
Only the water chuckles and pleadsC
For the hemp clings fast to a dead man's throatQ2
And blind Fate gathers back her seedsC

Stephen Vincent Benet



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