Sermon In A Churchyard Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCD EFEFGHIH JKJKLMLM NONOPQPQ RMRMSTUT VWVXOYOY ZQZQA2B2A2B2 C2D2C2D2E2JE2J F2G2F2G2H2I2H2I2 J2K2J2K2L2ML2M M2BM2BZN2ZN2 O2F2O2F2P2GP2I| Let pious Damon take his seat | A |
| With mincing step and languid smile | B |
| And scatter from his 'kerchief sweet | A |
| Sabaean odours o'er the aisle | B |
| And spread his little jewelled hand | C |
| And smile round all the parish beauties | D |
| And pat his curls and smooth his band | C |
| Meet prelude to his saintly duties | D |
| - | |
| Let the thronged audience press and stare | E |
| Let stifled maidens ply the fan | F |
| Admire his doctrines and his hair | E |
| And whisper What a good young man | F |
| While he explains what seems most clear | G |
| So clearly that it seems perplexed | H |
| I'll stay and read my sermon here | I |
| And skulls and bones shall be the text | H |
| - | |
| Art thou the jilted dupe of fame | J |
| Dost thou with jealous anger pine | K |
| Whene'er she sounds some other name | J |
| With fonder emphasis than thine | K |
| To thee I preach draw near attend | L |
| Look on these bones thou fool and see | M |
| Where all her scorns and favours end | L |
| What Byron is and thou must be | M |
| - | |
| Dost thou revere or praise or trust | N |
| Some clod like those that here we spurn | O |
| Some thing that sprang like thee from dust | N |
| And shall like thee to dust return | O |
| Dost thou rate statesmen heroes wits | P |
| At one sear leaf or wandering feather | Q |
| Behold the black damp narrow pits | P |
| Where they and thou must lie together | Q |
| - | |
| Dost thou beneath the smile or frown | R |
| Of some vain woman bend thy knee | M |
| Here take thy stand and trample down | R |
| Things that were once as fair as she | M |
| Here rave of her ten thousand graces | S |
| Bosom and lip and eye and chin | T |
| While as in scorn the fleshless faces | U |
| Of Hamiltons and Waldegraves grin | T |
| - | |
| Whate'er thy losses or thy gains | V |
| Whate'er thy projects or thy fears | W |
| Whate'er the joys whate'er the pains | V |
| That prompt thy baby smiles and tears | X |
| Come to my school and thou shalt learn | O |
| In one short hour of placid thought | Y |
| A stoicism more deep more stern | O |
| Than ever Zeno's porch hath taught | Y |
| - | |
| The plots and feats of those that press | Z |
| To seize on titles wealth or power | Q |
| Shall seem to thee a game of chess | Z |
| Devised to pass a tedious hour | Q |
| What matters it to him who fights | A2 |
| For shows of unsubstantial good | B2 |
| Whether his Kings and Queens and Knights | A2 |
| Be things of flesh or things of wood | B2 |
| - | |
| We check and take exult and fret | C2 |
| Our plans extend our passions rise | D2 |
| Till in our ardour we forget | C2 |
| How worthless is the victor's prize | D2 |
| Soon fades the spell soon comes the night | E2 |
| Say will it not be then the same | J |
| Whether we played the black or white | E2 |
| Whether we lost or won the game | J |
| - | |
| Dost thou among these hillocks stray | F2 |
| O'er some dear idol's tomb to moan | G2 |
| Know that thy foot is on the clay | F2 |
| Of hearts once wretched as thy own | G2 |
| How many a father's anxious schemes | H2 |
| How many rapturous thoughts of lovers | I2 |
| How many a mother's cherished dreams | H2 |
| The swelling turf before thee covers | I2 |
| - | |
| Here for the living and the dead | J2 |
| The weepers and the friends they weep | K2 |
| Hath been ordained the same cold bed | J2 |
| The same dark night the same long sleep | K2 |
| Why shouldest thou writhe and sob and rave | L2 |
| O'er those with whom thou soon must be | M |
| Death his own sting shall cure the grave | L2 |
| Shall vanquish its own victory | M |
| - | |
| Here learn that all the griefs and joys | M2 |
| Which now torment which now beguile | B |
| Are children's hurts and children's toys | M2 |
| Scarce worthy of one bitter smile | B |
| Here learn that pulpit throne and press | Z |
| Sword sceptre lyre alike are frail | N2 |
| That science is a blind man's guess | Z |
| And History a nurse's tale | N2 |
| - | |
| Here learn that glory and disgrace | O2 |
| Wisdom and folly pass away | F2 |
| That mirth hath its appointed space | O2 |
| That sorrow is but for a day | F2 |
| That all we love and all we hate | P2 |
| That all we hope and all we fear | G |
| Each mood of mind each turn of fate | P2 |
| Must end in dust and silence here | I |
Thomas Babbington Macaulay
(1)
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