The Peasent's Confession Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDEFA DADA BABC DBDB ABAB BDBD BGBG HDHD IAIA JDJD BBBB BBBB BBBB JDJD DJDA JJDJ ABAB JBJB KDKD BBBB BBBB DADA BLBL DADD BMBM BBBB BDBD ABBJ JJNJ BADA JBJB BOBO DDDD DBDB PJPJ BJBJ

Si le mar chal Grouchy avait t rejoint par l'officier queA
Napol on lui avait exp di la veille dix heures du soir touteB
question e t disparu Mais cet officier n' tait point parvenu saC
destination ainsi que le mar chal n'a cess de l'affirmer toute saC
vie et il faut l'en croire car autrement il n'aurait eu aucuneD
raison pour h siter Cet officier avait il t pris avait il passE
l'ennemi C'est ce qu'on a toujours ignorF
Thiers Histoire de l'Empire WaterlooA
-
GOOD Father 'Twas an eve in middle JuneD
And war was waged anewA
By great Napoleon who for years had strewnD
Men's bones all Europe throughA
-
Three nights ere this with columned corps he'd crossedB
The Sambre at CharleroiA
To move on Brussels where the English hostB
Dallied in Parc and BoisC
-
The yestertide we'd heard the gloomy gunD
Growl through the long sunned dayB
From Quatre Bras and Ligny till the dunD
Twilight suppressed the frayB
-
Albeit therein as lated tongues bespokeA
Brunswick's high heart was drainedB
And Prussia's Line and Landwehr though unbrokeA
Stood cornered and constrainedB
-
And at next noon time Grouchy slowly passedB
With thirty thousand menD
We hoped thenceforth no army small or vastB
Would trouble us againD
-
My hut lay deeply in a vale recessedB
And never a soul seemed nighG
When reassured at length we went to restB
My children wife and IG
-
But what was this that broke our humble easeH
What noise above the rainD
Above the dripping of the poplar treesH
That smote along the paneD
-
A call of mastery bidding me ariseI
Compelled me to the doorA
At which a horseman stood in martial guiseI
Splashed sweating from every poreA
-
Had I seen Grouchy Yes Which track took heJ
Could I lead thither onD
Fulfilment would ensure gold pieces threeJ
Perchance more gifts anonD
-
I bear the Emperor's mandate then he saidB
Charging the Marshal straightB
To strike between the double host aheadB
Ere they co operateB
-
Engaging Bl cher till the Emperor putB
Lord Wellington to flightB
And next the Prussians This to set afootB
Is my emprise to nightB
-
I joined him in the mist but pausing soughtB
To estimate his sayB
Grouchy had made for Wavre and yet on thoughtB
I did not lead that wayB
-
I mused If Grouchy thus instructed beJ
The clash comes sheer hereonD
My farm is stript While as for pieces threeJ
Money the French have noneD
-
Grouchy unwarned moreo'er the English winD
And mine is left to meJ
They buy not borrow Hence did I beginD
To lead him treacherouslyA
-
By Joidoigne near to east as we ondrewJ
Dawn pierced the humid airJ
And eastward faced I with him though I knewD
Never marched Grouchy thereJ
-
Near Ottignies we passed across the DyleA
Lim'lette left far asideB
And thence direct toward Pervez and NovilleA
Through green grain till he criedB
-
I doubt thy conduct man no track is hereJ
I doubt they gag d wordB
Thereat he scowled on me and pranced me nearJ
And pricked me with his swordB
-
Nay Captain hold We skirt not trace the courseK
Of Grouchy said I thenD
As we go yonder went he with his forceK
Of thirty thousand menD
-
At length noon nighed when west from Saint John's MoundB
A hoarse artillery boomedB
And from Saint Lambert's upland chapel crownedB
The Prussian squadrons loomedB
-
Then to the wayless wet gray ground he leaptB
My mission fails he criedB
Too late for Grouchy now to interceptB
For peasant you have liedB
-
He turned to pistol me I sprang and drewD
The sabre from his flankA
And 'twixt his nape and shoulder ere he knewD
I struck and dead he sankA
-
I hid him deep in nodding rye and oatB
His shroud green stalks and loamL
His requiem the corn blade's husky noteB
And then I hastened homeL
-
Two armies writhe in coils of red and blueD
And brass and iron clangA
From Goumont past the front of WaterlooD
To Pap'lotte and SmohainD
-
The Guard Imperial wavered on the heightB
The Emperor's face grew glumM
I sent he said to Grouchy yesternightB
And yet he does not comeM
-
'Twas then Good Father that the French espiedB
Streaking the summer landB
The men of Bl cher But the Emperor criedB
Grouchy is now at handB
-
And meanwhile Vand'leur Vivian Maitland KemptB
Met d'Erlon Friant NeyD
But Grouchy mis sent blamed yet blame exemptB
Grouchy was far awayD
-
Be even slain or struck Michel the strongA
Bold Travers Dnop DelordB
Smart Guyot Reil le l'Heriter FriantB
Scattered that champaign o'erJ
-
Fallen likewise wronged Duhesme and skilled LobauJ
Did that red sunset seeJ
Colbert Legros Blancard And of the foeN
Picton and PonsonbyJ
-
With Gordon Canning Blackman OmptedaB
L'Estrange Delancey PackeA
Grose D'Oyly Stables Morice Howard HayD
Von Schwerin Watzdorf BoekA
-
Smith Phelips Fuller Lind and BattersbyJ
And hosts of ranksmen roundB
Memorials linger yet to speak to theeJ
Of those that bit the groundB
-
The Guards' last column yielded dykes of deadB
Lay between vale and ridgeO
As thinned yet closing faint yet fierce they spedB
In packs to Genappe BridgeO
-
Safe was my stock my capple cow unslainD
Intact each cock and henD
But Grouchy far at Wavre all day had lainD
And thirty thousand menD
-
O Saints had I but lost my earing cornD
And saved the cause once prizedB
O Saints why such false witness had I borneD
When late I'd sympathizedB
-
So now being old my children eye askanceP
My slowly dwindling storeJ
And crave my mite till worn with tarrianceP
I care for life no moreJ
-
To Almighty God henceforth I stand confessedB
And Virgin Saint MarieJ
O Michael John and Holy Ones in restB
Entreat the Lord for meJ

Thomas Hardy



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