Requiescit Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST OUVWEXYBZA2 DB2C2D2E2XTXZXC2F2G2 XH2 I2 J2K2XPL2WBM2ZN2O2DP2 JTPJQ2R2K THS2T2U2V2LXAW2X2C2A Y2Z2 A3JB3C3

I cannot tell his story He was oneA
To whom the riddle of our human lifeB
Was strangely put and who because of thatC
And that he could not read it died But a short hourD
Before he passed the woman who stood byE
Weeping as once she had wept to see him bornF
Tired with her watching looked into his faceG
And saw the heavy eyelids dropping downH
Loaded with sleep And she for all her tearsI
Bent for the hundredth time to ease his bedJ
And as she almost touched him smoothing outK
The ruffled pillows close into her earL
He whispered never lifting up his eyesM
No matter now I shall be soon asleep ''N
And then as if he would pursue the thoughtO
A little way as once he loved to doP
And yet too weak to catch it he went onQ
And what a trouble it has been to keepR
This pillow smooth And in a little whileS
It will not want another touch and thenT
This aching head of mine will have done with thoughtO
Thought Thought '' But loud the aged woman sobbedU
Poor soul poor gentleman '' So they remainedV
For a brief space the goodwife standing thereW
Knotting her wrinkled hands and he hard byE
Upon the bed and breathing heavilyX
For he seemed sunk again in that dull tranceY
Through which men often pass away from lifeB
When death as the lion does has shaken his preyZ
And he lies numb and dumb and powerlessA2
-
She listened He was telling slowly overD
The names of those whom he had loved in youthB2
Many were strange to her and then there cameC2
One she knew well She started at the soundD2
She had not heard for years and bending nearE2
Heard him repeat it twice She whispered hoarselyX
Have you no word for her '' yet stopped againT
Because his eyes were open DoubtinglyX
They wandered to her own and seemed to sayZ
Who and what is it that you ask '' And sheX
Spoke it again He seemed to catch the nameC2
And said it after her but like a childF2
Which knows not what it speaks and afterwardsG2
Ah Bridget I have quite forgot that storyX
And now in half an hour it is not longH2
I shall have clean forgotten the name too ''-
She cried Oh Sir it is a life too lateI2
Would God you had forgot it long ago ''-
-
The tears stole slowly down her withered cheeksJ2
And fell upon his hands She did not moveK2
While he went murmuring on 'Tis very wellX
Thus to forget And what a wonder tooP
It now is'' and there came a sudden lightL2
Into his eyes that one should ever careW
To recollect a single day of lifeB
I used to think and plan and plot and schemeM2
How I might build my life in such a wayZ
That I should take fine memories to my graveN2
And now what a small matter 'tis to knowO2
How the years went when death in half an hourD
Is all that is left of them No matter nowP2
But only to sleep sound in any bedJ
And have no dreams '' His eyes grew dim againT
As he ceased speaking And the woman knewP
That he was dying He is gone '' she saidJ
And then she started muttering half aloudQ2
They cannot pass without the sacramentsR2
These gentle folks '' And so she hurried outK
-
The dying man smiled When they came againT
She whispered in his ear and looking downH
Saw him still smiling so she lit in hasteS2
A candle by the bed and knelt asideT2
They put the holy oils upon his handsU2
Which closed upon the fingers of the priestV2
The priest bent over him and laid his earL
To the half open mouth and presentlyX
Thinking he heard some words gave absolutionA
But when they would have gone on with the restW2
They found that he was dead They buried himX2
With some small pomp to comfort the old dameC2
Who said her master was a gentlemanA
And must be followed with a mourning coachY2
And mutes and weepers There was no one elseZ2
-
His name is cut upon a stone His dreamsA3
Were written on Time's hem and Time has fledJ
And taken him and them The grass is greenB3
Upon his grave I cannot doubt he sleepsC3

Wilfrid Scawen Blunt



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