The Bridge Of Lodi (spring, 1887) Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCAB A DEDE A AFBF BGBG B HIHI JGKG KLKL KKKK G KKKK G MKMK K KNKN K OKOK K KHKH KKKK KPKQ DKDK KHKHI | A |
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When of tender mind and body | B |
nbsp nbsp nbsp I was moved by minstrelsy | C |
And that strain The Bridge of Lodi | A |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Brought a strange delight to me | B |
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II | A |
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In the battle breathing jingle | D |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Of its forward footing tune | E |
I could see the armies mingle | D |
nbsp nbsp nbsp And the columns cleft and hewn | E |
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III | A |
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On that far famed spot by Lodi | A |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Where Napoleon clove his way | F |
To his fame when like a god he | B |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Bent the nations to his sway | F |
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IV | - |
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Hence the tune came capering to me | B |
nbsp nbsp nbsp While I traced the Rhone and Po | G |
Nor could Milan's Marvel woo me | B |
nbsp nbsp nbsp From the spot englamoured so | G |
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V | B |
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And to day sunlit and smiling | H |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Here I stand upon the scene | I |
With its saffron walls dun tiling | H |
nbsp nbsp nbsp And its meads of maiden green | I |
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VI | - |
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Even as when the trackway thundered | J |
nbsp nbsp nbsp With the charge of grenadiers | G |
And the blood of forty hundred | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Splashed its parapets and piers | G |
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VII | - |
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Any ancient crone I'd toady | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Like a lass in young eyed prime | L |
Could she tell some tale of Lodi | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp At that moving mighty time | L |
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VIII | - |
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So I ask the wives of Lodi | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp For traditions of that day | K |
But alas not anybody | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Seems to know of such a fray | K |
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IX | G |
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And they heed but transitory | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Marketings in cheese and meat | K |
Till I judge that Lodi's story | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Is extinct in Lodi's street | K |
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X | G |
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Yet while here and there they thrid them | M |
nbsp nbsp nbsp In their zest to sell and buy | K |
Let me sit me down amid them | M |
nbsp nbsp nbsp And behold those thousands die | K |
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XI | K |
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Not a creature cares in Lodi | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp How Napoleon swept each arch | N |
Or where up and downward trod he | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Or for his memorial March | N |
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XII | K |
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So that wherefore should I be here | O |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Watching Adda lip the lea | K |
When the whole romance to see here | O |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Is the dream I bring with me | K |
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XIII | K |
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And why sing The Bridge of Lodi | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp As I sit thereon and swing | H |
When none shows by smile or nod he | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Guesses why or what I sing | H |
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XIV | - |
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Since all Lodi low and head ones | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Seem to pass that story by | K |
It may be the Lodi bred ones | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Rate it truly and not I | K |
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XV | - |
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Once engrossing Bridge of Lodi | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Is thy claim to glory gone | P |
Must I pipe a palinody | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Or be silent thereupon | Q |
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XVI | - |
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And if here from strand to steeple | D |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Be no stone to fame the fight | K |
Must I say the Lodi people | D |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Are but viewing crime aright | K |
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Nay I'll sing The Bridge of Lodi | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp That long loved romantic thing | H |
Though none show by smile or nod he | K |
nbsp nbsp nbsp Guesses why and what I sing | H |
Thomas Hardy
(1)
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