The Face At The Casement Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABBA CDDC EFGE HIIH JKKL MDDM NOON PQQP RSSR TGGT UDDU VGGV HLLH WGGW XDDX YZZY| If ever joy leave | A |
| An abiding sting of sorrow | B |
| So befell it on the morrow | B |
| Of that May eve | A |
| - | |
| The travelled sun dropped | C |
| To the north west low and lower | D |
| The pony's trot grew slower | D |
| And then we stopped | C |
| - | |
| This cosy house just by | E |
| I must call at for a minute | F |
| A sick man lies within it | G |
| Who soon will die | E |
| - | |
| He wished to marry me | H |
| So I am bound when I drive near him | I |
| To inquire if but to cheer him | I |
| How he may be | H |
| - | |
| A message was sent in | J |
| And wordlessly we waited | K |
| Till some one came and stated | K |
| The bulletin | L |
| - | |
| And that the sufferer said | M |
| For her call no words could thank her | D |
| As his angel he must rank her | D |
| Till life's spark fled | M |
| - | |
| Slowly we drove away | N |
| When I turned my head although not | O |
| Called why so I turned I know not | O |
| Even to this day | N |
| - | |
| And lo there in my view | P |
| Pressed against an upper lattice | Q |
| Was a white face gazing at us | Q |
| As we withdrew | P |
| - | |
| And well did I divine | R |
| It to be the man's there dying | S |
| Who but lately had been sighing | S |
| For her pledged mine | R |
| - | |
| Then I deigned a deed of hell | T |
| It was done before I knew it | G |
| What devil made me do it | G |
| I cannot tell | T |
| - | |
| Yes while he gazed above | U |
| I put my arm about her | D |
| That he might see nor doubt her | D |
| My plighted Love | U |
| - | |
| The pale face vanished quick | V |
| As if blasted from the casement | G |
| And my shame and self abasement | G |
| Began their prick | V |
| - | |
| And they prick on ceaselessly | H |
| For that stab in Love's fierce fashion | L |
| Which unfired by lover's passion | L |
| Was foreign to me | H |
| - | |
| She smiled at my caress | W |
| But why came the soft embowment | G |
| Of her shoulder at that moment | G |
| She did not guess | W |
| - | |
| Long long years has he lain | X |
| In thy garth O sad Saint Cleather | D |
| What tears there bared to weather | D |
| Will cleanse that stain | X |
| - | |
| Love is long suffering brave | Y |
| Sweet prompt precious as a jewel | Z |
| But O too Love is cruel | Z |
| Cruel as the grave | Y |
Thomas Hardy
(1)
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