Mussel Hunter At Rock Harbor Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDA ECFGHIB JKLMNOP QRSTUVW XYZA2B2C2 VD2C2C2E2C2C2 C2ZC2C2F2C2T XD2G2H2ZBX D2I2C2XJ2C2C2 XZUNC2K2L2 UM2C2C2C2K2H2 C2NZEXXX C2XN2XXC2Z

f the Cape light that scoursA
Sand grit to sided crystalB
And buffs and sleeks the blunt hullsC
Of the three fishing smacks beachedD
On the bank of the river'sA
-
Backtracking tail I'd come forE
Free fish bait the blue musselsC
Clumped like bulbs at the grassrootF
Margin of the tidal poolsG
Dawn tide stood dead low I smeltH
Mud stench shell guts gulls' leavingsI
Heard a queer crusty scrabbleB
-
Cease and I neared the silencedJ
Edge of a cratered pool bedK
The mussels hung dull blue andL
Conspicuous yet it seemedM
A sly world's hinges had swungN
Shut against me All held stillO
Though I counted scant secondsP
-
Enough ages lapsed to winQ
Confidence of safe conductR
In the wary other worldS
Eyeing me Grass put forth clawsT
Small mud knobs nudged from underU
Displaced their domes as tinyV
Knights might doff their casques The crabsW
-
Inched from their pygmy burrowsX
And from the trench dug mud all Camouflaged in mottled mailY
Of browns and greens Each wore oneZ
Claw swollen to a shield largeA2
As itself no fiddler's armB2
Grown Gargantuan by tradeC2
-
But grown grimly and grimlyV
Borne for a use beyond myD2
Guessing of it SibilantC2
Mass motived hordes they sidledC2
Out in a converging streamE2
Toward the pool mouth perhaps toC2
Meet the thin and sluggish threadC2
-
Of sea retracing its tideC2
Way up the river basinZ
Or to avoid me They movedC2
Obliquely with a dry wetC2
Sound with a glittery wispF2
And trickle Could they feel mudC2
Pleasurable under clawsT
-
As I could between bare toesX
That question ended it ID2
Stood shut out for once for allG2
Puzzling the passage of theirH2
Absolutely alienZ
Order as I might puzzleB
At the clear tail of Halley'sX
-
Comet coolly giving myD2
Orbit the go by made knownI2
By a family name itC2
Knew nothing of So the crabsX
Went about their business whichJ2
Wasn't fiddling and I filledC2
A big handkerchief with blueC2
-
Mussels From what the crabs sawX
If they could see I was oneZ
Two legged mussel pickerU
High on the airy thatchingN
Of the dense grasses I foundC2
The husk of a fiddler crabK2
Intact strangely strayed aboveL2
-
His world of mud green colorU
And innards bleached out blown offM2
Somewhere by much sun and windC2
There was no telling if he'dC2
Died recluse of suicideC2
Or headstrong Columbus crabK2
The crab face etched and set thereH2
-
Grimaced as skulls grimace itC2
Had an Oriental lookN
A samurai death mask doneZ
On a tiger tooth less forE
Art's sake than God's Far from seaX
Where red freckled crab backs clawsX
And whole crabs dead their soggyX
-
Bellies pallid and upturnedC2
Perform their shambling waltzesX
On the waves' dissolving turnN2
And return losing themselvesX
Bit by bit to their friendlyX
Element this relic savedC2
Face to face the bald faced sunZ

Sylvia Plath



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