President Lincoln's Burial Hymn Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A ABC CDE FBFGH IJKLMENKLO JP QJP RST JUJVJVCJWX JYZA2CBVJJPB2XC2JD2J Z E2CF2G2 JJH2JC2G2 A2I2J2BK2BVL2M2N2C2S O2BEBP2Q2R2 S2T2C2JJ U2R2E DV2CW2E JJE JX2BCY2EJ2VY2TJEJXC YJJBJZ2 JJBA3JY B3JJ PS K2K2C3J D3CJX2JVJVA2EWhen Lilacs Last in the Door yard Bloom'd | A |
- | |
- | |
WHEN lilacs last in the door yard bloom'd | A |
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night | B |
I mourn'd and yet shall mourn with ever returning spring | C |
- | |
O ever returning spring trinity sure to me you bring | C |
Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west | D |
And thought of him I love | E |
- | |
- | |
O powerful western fallen star | F |
O shades of night O moody tearful night | B |
O great star disappear'd O the black murk that hides the star | F |
O cruel hands that hold me powerless O helpless soul of me | G |
O harsh surrounding cloud that will not free my soul | H |
- | |
- | |
In the door yard fronting an old farm house near the white wash'd | I |
palings | J |
Stands the lilac bush tall growing with heart shaped leaves of rich | K |
green | L |
With many a pointed blossom rising delicate with the perfume | M |
strong I love | E |
With every leaf a miracle and from this bush in the door yard | N |
With delicate color'd blossoms and heart shaped leaves of rich | K |
green | L |
A sprig with its flower I break | O |
- | |
- | |
In the swamp in secluded recesses | J |
A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song | P |
- | |
Solitary the thrush | Q |
The hermit withdrawn to himself avoiding the settlements | J |
Sings by himself a song | P |
- | |
Song of the bleeding throat | R |
Death's outlet song of life for well dear brother I know | S |
If thou wast not gifted to sing thou would'st surely die | T |
- | |
- | |
Over the breast of the spring the land amid cities | J |
Amid lanes and through old woods where lately the violets peep'd | U |
from the ground spotting the gray debris | J |
Amid the grass in the fields each side of the lanes passing the | V |
endless grass | J |
Passing the yellow spear'd wheat every grain from its shroud in the | V |
dark brown fields uprising | C |
Passing the apple tree blows of white and pink in the orchards | J |
Carrying a corpse to where it shall rest in the grave | W |
Night and day journeys a coffin | X |
- | |
- | |
Coffin that passes through lanes and streets | J |
Through day and night with the great cloud darkening the land | Y |
With the pomp of the inloop'd flags with the cities draped in black | Z |
With the show of the States themselves as of crape veil'd women | A2 |
standing | C |
With processions long and winding and the flambeaus of the night | B |
With the countless torches lit with the silent sea of faces and the | V |
unbared heads | J |
With the waiting depot the arriving coffin and the sombre faces | J |
With dirges through the night with the thousand voices rising strong | P |
and solemn | B2 |
With all the mournful voices of the dirges pour'd around the coffin | X |
The dim lit churches and the shuddering organs Where amid these you | C2 |
journey | J |
With the tolling tolling bells' perpetual clang | D2 |
Here coffin that slowly passes | J |
I give you my sprig of lilac | Z |
- | |
- | |
Nor for you for one alone | E2 |
Blossoms and branches green to coffins all I bring | C |
For fresh as the morning thus would I carol a song for you O sane | F2 |
and sacred death | G2 |
- | |
All over bouquets of roses | J |
O death I cover you over with roses and early lilies | J |
But mostly and now the lilac that blooms the first | H2 |
Copious I break I break the sprigs from the bushes | J |
With loaded arms I come pouring for you | C2 |
For you and the coffins all of you O death | G2 |
- | |
- | |
O western orb sailing the heaven | A2 |
Now I know what you must have meant as a month since we walk'd | I2 |
As we walk'd up and down in the dark blue so mystic | J2 |
As we walk'd in silence the transparent shadowy night | B |
As I saw you had something to tell as you bent to me night after | K2 |
night | B |
As you droop'd from the sky low down as if to my side while the | V |
other stars all look'd on | L2 |
As we wander'd together the solemn night for something I know not | M2 |
what kept me from sleep | N2 |
As the night advanced and I saw on the rim of the west ere you | C2 |
went how full you were of woe | S |
As I stood on the rising ground in the breeze in the cold | O2 |
transparent night | B |
As I watch'd where you pass'd and was lost in the netherward black of | E |
the night | B |
As my soul in its trouble dissatisfied sank as where you sad | P2 |
orb | Q2 |
Concluded dropt in the night and was gone | R2 |
- | |
- | |
Sing on there in the swamp | S2 |
O singer bashful and tender I hear your notes I hear your call | T2 |
I hear I come presently I understand you | C2 |
But a moment I linger for the lustrous star has detain'd me | J |
The star my departing comrade holds and detains me | J |
- | |
- | |
O how shall I warble myself for the dead one there I loved | U2 |
And how shall I deck my song for the large sweet soul that has gone | R2 |
And what shall my perfume be for the grave of him I love | E |
- | |
Sea winds blown from east and west | D |
Blown from the eastern sea and blown from the western sea till | V2 |
there on the prairies meeting | C |
These and with these and the breath of my chant | W2 |
I perfume the grave of him I love | E |
- | |
- | |
O what shall I hang on the chamber walls | J |
And what shall the pictures be that I hang on the walls | J |
To adorn the burial house of him I love | E |
- | |
Pictures of growing spring and farms and homes | J |
With the Fourth month eve at sundown and the gray smoke lucid and | X2 |
bright | B |
With floods of the yellow gold of the gorgeous indolent sinking | C |
sun burning expanding the air | Y2 |
With the fresh sweet herbage under foot and the pale green leaves of | E |
the trees prolific | J2 |
In the distance the flowing glaze the breast of the river with a | V |
wind dapple here and there | Y2 |
With ranging hills on the banks with many a line against the sky | T |
and shadows | J |
And the city at hand with dwellings so dense and stacks of | E |
chimneys | J |
And all the scenes of life and the workshops and the workmen | X |
homeward returning | C |
- | |
- | |
Lo body and soul this land | Y |
Mighty Manhattan with spires and the sparkling and hurrying tides | J |
and the ships | J |
The varied and ample land the South and the North in the light | B |
Ohio's shores and flashing Missouri | J |
And ever the far spreading prairies cover'd with grass and corn | Z2 |
- | |
Lo the most excellent sun so calm and haughty | J |
The violet and purple morn with just felt breezes | J |
The gentle soft born measureless light | B |
The miracle spreading bathing all the fulfill'd noon | A3 |
The coming eve delicious the welcome night and the stars | J |
Over my cities shining all enveloping man and land | Y |
- | |
- | |
Sing on sing on you gray brown bird | B3 |
Sing from the swamps the recesses pour your chant from the bushes | J |
Limitless out of the dusk out of the cedars and pines | J |
- | |
Sing on dearest brother warble your reedy song | P |
Loud human song with voice of uttermost woe | S |
- | |
O liquid and free and tender | K2 |
O wild and loose to my soul O wondrous singer | K2 |
You only I hear yet the star holds me but will soon depart | C3 |
Yet the lilac with mastering odor holds me | J |
- | |
- | |
Now while I sat in the day and look'd forth | D3 |
In the close of the day with its light and the fields of spring | C |
and the farmer preparing his crops | J |
In the large unconscious scenery of my land with its lakes and | X2 |
forests | J |
In the heavenly aerial beauty after the perturb'd winds and the | V |
storms | J |
Under the arching heavens of the afternoon swift passing and the | V |
voices of children and women | A2 |
The many mov | E |
Walt Whitman
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about President Lincoln's Burial Hymn poem by Walt Whitman
Best Poems of Walt Whitman