The White Peacock Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BCDEF GHGGI JKLMNOPQRRSG TUVW XY ZA2KB2C2 ZRGS MD2E2 F2F2G2F2 H2 I2J2MK2L2M2 MG N2GRKRRPO2P2SJMQ2R2S 2T2S2MMU2R S2V2W2 MMS2 F2S2S2S2M RMRQ2MMQ2MX2RS2Y2 MS2MMZ2X2 S2S2Q2 MMQ2R Q2MMS2S2Q2Q2S2Q2 R

France Ancient RegimeA
-
I-
-
Go awayB
Go away I will not confess to youC
His black biretta clings like a hangman's cap under his twitching fingers the beads shiver and clickD
As he mumbles in his corner the shadow deepens upon himE
I will not confessF
-
Is he there or is it intenser shadowG
Dark huddled coilings from the obscene depthsH
Black formless shadowG
ShadowG
Doors creak from secret parts of the chateau come the scuffle and worry of ratsI
-
Orange light drips from the guttering candlesJ
Eddying over the vast embroideries of the bedK
Stirring the monstrous tapestriesL
Retreating before the sable impending gloom of the canopyM
With a swift thrust and sparkle of goldN
Lipping my handsO
ThenP
Rippling back abashed before the ominous silencesQ
Like the swift turns and starts of an overpowered fencerR
Who sees before him HorrorR
Behind him darknessS
ShadowG
-
The clock jars and strikes a thin sudden note like the sob of a childT
Clock buhl clock that ticked out the tortuous hours of my birthU
Clock evil wizened dwarf of a clock how many years of agony have you relentlessly measuredV
Yardstick of my stifling shroudW
-
I am Aumaury de Montreuil once quick soon to be eaten of wormsX
You hear Father Hsh he is asleep in the night's cloakY
-
Over me too steals sleepZ
Sleep like a white mist on the rotting paintings of cupids and gods on the ceilingA2
Sleep on the carven shields and knots at the foot of the bedK
Oozing blurring outlines obliterating colorsB2
DeathC2
-
Father Father I must not sleepZ
It does not hear that shadow crouched in the cornerR
Is it a shadowG
One might think so indeed save for the calm face yellow as wax that lifts like the face of a drowned man from the choking darknessS
-
-
II-
-
Out of the drowsy fog my body creeps back to meM
It is the white time before dawnD2
Moonlight watery pellucid lifeless ripples over the worldE2
The grass beneath it is gray the stars pale in the sky-
The night dew has fallenF2
An infinity of little drops crystals from which all light has been takenF2
Glint on the sighing branchesG2
All is purity without color without stir without passionF2
-
Suddenly a peacock screamsH2
-
My heart shocks and stopsI2
Sweat cold corpse sweatJ2
Covers my rigid bodyM
My hair stands on end I cannot stir I cannot speakK2
It is terror terror that is walking the pale sick gardensL2
And the eyeless face no man may see and liveM2
Ah h h h h-
Father Father wake wake and save meM
In his corner all is shadowG
-
Dead things creep from the groundN2
It is so long ago that she died so long agoG
Dust crushes her earth holds her mold grips herR
Fiends do you not know that she is deadK
Let us dance the pavon she said the waxlights glittered like swords on the polished floorR
Twinkling on jewelled snuffboxes beaming savagely from the crass gold of candelabraR
From the white shoulders of girls and the white powdered wigs of menP
All life was that danceO2
The mocking resistless currentP2
The beauty the passion the perilous madnessS
As she took my hand released it and spread her dresses like petalsJ
Turning swaying in beautyM
A lily bowed by the rainQ2
Moonlight she was and her body of moonlight and foamR2
And her eyes starsS2
Oh the dance has a patternT2
But the clear grace of her thrilled through the notes of the violsS2
Tremulous pleading escaping immortal untamedM
And as we endedM
She blew me a kiss from her hand like a drifting white blossomU2
And the starshine was gone and she fled like a bird up the stairR
-
Underneath the window a peacock screamsS2
And claws click scrapeV2
Like little lacquered boots on the rough stoneW2
-
Oh the long fantasy of the kiss the ceaseless hunger ceaselessly divinely appeasedM
The aching presence of the beloved's beautyM
The wisdom the incense the brightnessS2
-
Once more on the ice bright floor they danced the pavonF2
But I turned to the garden and her from the lighted candlesS2
Softly I trod the lush grass between the black hedges of boxS2
Softly for I should take her unawares and catch her armsS2
And embrace her dear and startledM
-
By the arbor all the moonlight flowed in silverR
And her head was on his breastM
She did not scream or shudderR
When my sword was where her head had lainQ2
In the quiet moonlightM
But turned to me with one pale hand upliftedM
All her satins fiery with the starshineQ2
Nacreous shimmering weeping iridescentM
Like the quivering plumage of a peacockX2
Then her head drooped and I gripped her hairR
Oh soft scented cloud across my fingersS2
Bending her white neck backY2
-
Blood writhed on my hands I trod in bloodM
Stupidly agazeS2
At that crumpled heap of silk and moonlightM
Where like twitching pinions an arm twistedM
Palely and was stillZ2
As the face of chalkX2
-
The buhl clock strikesS2
Thirty years Christ thirty yearsS2
Agony AgonyQ2
-
Something stirs in the windowM
Shattering the moonlightM
White wings fanQ2
Father FatherR
-
All its plumage fiery with the starshineQ2
Nacreous shimmering weeping iridescentM
It drifts across the floor and mounts the bedM
To the tap of little satin shoesS2
Gazing with infernal eyesS2
Its quick beak thrusting rending devil's crimsonQ2
Screams great tortured screams shake the dark canopyQ2
The light flickers the shadow in the corner stirsS2
The wax face lifts the eyes openQ2
-
A thin trickle of blood worms darkly against the vast red coverlet and spreads to a pool on the floorR

Stephen Vincent Benet



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