The Hare Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABCCCADC BCECEFGFCDFDHHG IEIEFIIIFIJKJKLMLGKK HH HHHNIIOONH PPQQJHHJJHRC CFFSTTTSUUUVUVSSFVWX XXYHH WZWZYFJJJP PJJA2B2C2HA2HPJJC2JJ JJHD2D2JHH RE2RHHE2LLSHHJSJHPH HHPHHTQQF2ETF2HESG2G 2SSHH2H2D2JJJKHD2HH JI2JJHI2J2SOSK2J2K2O HRHPRPHHHHY RL2HL2YM2PJPN2N2RPPJ PN2O2HH HPHHHHPPRPPHRPPRL2L2 PPP2PPP2PPPOPPPOL2L2 QQHHHHHHQQ2RJJQ2RPPP PHJJJYHJRRR2YRS2 PPJPPPS2R2PRR ZZJJIIT2T2HU2V2HHV2P U2PHW2W2PL2HL2X2L2PX 2IHHHIHL2L2PRRPPPX2X 2PP PPPPPPPPY2Y2P QQUUP PHPPX2HPX2P KZ2W2W2W2Z2KA3PPHRRW 2 PJHHJJJHPHHPP PJJPPPB3HHPB3W2PW2HH P

My hands were hot upon a hare	A
Half strangled struggling in a snare	A
My knuckles at her warm wind pipe	B
When suddenly her eyes shot back	C
Big fearful staggering and black	C
And ere I knew my grip was slack	C
And I was clutching empty air	A
Half mad half glad at my lost luck	D
When I awoke beside the stack	C
	-
'Twas just the minute when the snipe	B
As though clock wakened every jack	C
An hour ere dawn dart in and out	E
The mist wreaths filling syke and slack	C
And flutter wheeling round about	E
And drumming out the Summer night	F
I lay star gazing yet a bit	G
Then chilly skinned I sat upright	F
To shrug the shivers from my back	C
And drawing out a straw to suck	D
My teeth nipped through it at a bite	F
The liveliest lad is out of pluck	D
An hour ere dawn a tame cock sparrow	H
When cold stars shiver through his marrow	H
And wet mist soaks his mother wit	G
	-
But as the snipe dropped one by one	I
And one by one the stars blinked out	E
I knew 'twould only need the sun	I
To send the shudders right about	E
And as the clear East faded white	F
I watched and wearied for the sun	I
The jolly welcome friendly sun	I
The sleepy sluggard of a sun	I
That still kept snoozing out of sight	F
Though well he knew the night was done	I
And after all he caught me dozing	J
And leapt up laughing in the sky	K
Just as my lazy eyes were closing	J
And it was good as gold to lie	K
Full length among the straw and feel	L
The day wax warmer every minute	M
As glowing glad from head to heel	L
I soaked and rolled rejoicing in it	G
When from the corner of my eye	K
Upon a heathery knowe hard by	K
With long lugs cocked and eyes astare	H
Yet all serene I saw a hare	H
	-
Upon my belly in the straw	H
I lay and watched her sleek her fur	H
As daintily with well licked paw	H
She washed her face and neck and ears	N
Then clean and comely in the sun	I
She kicked her heels up full of fun	I
As if she did not care a pin	O
Though she should jump out of her skin	O
And leapt and lolloped free of fears	N
Until my heart frisked round with her	H
	-
'And yet if I but lift my head	P
You'll scamper off young Puss ' I said	P
'Still I can't lie and watch you play	Q
Upon my belly half the day	Q
The Lord alone knows where I'm going	J
But I had best be getting there	H
Last night I loosed you from the snare	H
Asleep or waking who's for knowing	J
So I shall thank you now for showing	J
Which art to take to bring me where	H
My luck awaits me When you're ready	R
To start I'll follow on your track	C
Though slow of foot I'm sure and steady '	-
She pricked her ears then set them back	C
And like a shot was out of sight	F
And with a happy heart and light	F
As quickly I was on my feet	S
And following the way she went	T
Keen as a lurcher on the scent	T
Across the heather and the bent	T
Across the quaking moss and peat	S
Of course I lost her soon enough	U
For moorland tracks are steep and rough	U
And hares are made of nimbler stuff	U
Than any lad of seventeen	V
However lanky legged and tough	U
However kestrel eyed and keen	V
And I'd at last to stop and eat	S
The little bit of bread and meat	S
Left in my pocket overnight	F
So in a hollow snug and green	V
I sat beside a burn and dipped	W
The dry bread in an icy pool	X
And munched a breakfast fresh and cool	X
And then sat gaping like a fool	X
For right before my very eyes	Y
With lugs acock and eyes astare	H
I saw again the selfsame hare	H
	-
So up I jumped and off she slipped	W
And I kept sight of her until	Z
I stumbled in a hole and tripped	W
And came a heavy headlong spill	Z
And she ere I'd the wit to rise	Y
Was o'er the hill and out of sight	F
And sore and shaken with the tumbling	J
And sicker at my foot for stumbling	J
I cursed my luck and went on grumbling	J
The way her flying heels had fled	P
	-
The sky was cloudless overhead	P
And just alive with larks asinging	J
And in a twinkling I was swinging	J
Across the windy hills lighthearted	A2
A kestrel at my footstep started	B2
Just pouncing on a frightened mouse	C2
And hung o'er head with wings a hover	H
Through rustling heath an adder darted	A2
A hundred rabbits bobbed to cover	H
A weasel sleek and rusty red	P
Popped out of sight as quick as winking	J
I saw a grizzled vixen slinking	J
Behind a clucking brood of grouse	C2
That rose and cackled at my coming	J
And all about my way were flying	J
The peewit with their slow wings creaking	J
And little jack snipe darted drumming	J
And now and then a golden plover	H
Or redshank piped with reedy whistle	D2
But never shaken bent or thistle	D2
Betrayed the quarry I was seeking	J
And not an instant anywhere	H
Did I clap eyes upon a hare	H
	-
So travelling still the twilight caught me	R
And as I stumbled on I muttered	E2
'A deal of luck the hare has brought me	R
The wind and I must spend together	H
A hungry night among the heather	H
If I'd her here ' And as I uttered	E2
I tripped and heard a frightened squeal	L
And dropped my hands in time to feel	L
The hare just bolting 'twixt my feet	S
She slipped my clutch and I stood there	H
And cursed that devil littered hare	H
That left me stranded in the dark	J
In that wide waste of quaggy peat	S
Beneath black night without a spark	J
When looking up I saw a flare	H
Upon a far off hill and said	P
'By God the heather is afire	H
It's mischief at this time of year '	-
And then as one bright flame shot higher	H
And booths and vans stood out quite clear	H
My wits came back into my head	P
And I remembered Brough Hill Fair	H
And as I stumbled towards the glare	H
I knew the sudden kindling meant	T
The Fair was over for the day	Q
And all the cattle folk away	Q
And gipsy folk and tinkers now	F2
Were lighting supper fires without	E
Each caravan and booth and tent	T
And as I climbed the stiff hill brow	F2
I quite forgot my lucky hare	H
I'd something else to think about	E
For well I knew there's broken meat	S
For empty bellies after fair time	G2
And looked to have a royal rare time	G2
With something rich and prime to eat	S
And then to lie and toast my feet	S
All night beside the biggest fire	H
But even as I neared the first	H2
A pleasant whiff of stewing burst	H2
From out a smoking pot a bubble	D2
And as I stopped behind the folk	J
Who sprawled around and watched it seething	J
A woman heard my eager breathing	J
And turning caught my hungry eye	K
And called out to me 'Draw in nigher	H
Unless you find it too much trouble	D2
Or you've a nose for better fare	H
And go to supper with the Squire	H
You've got the hungry parson's air '	-
And all looked up and took the joke	J
As I dropped gladly to the ground	I2
Among them where they all lay gazing	J
Upon the bubbling and the blazing	J
My eyes were dazzled by the fire	H
At first and then I glanced around	I2
And in those swarthy fire lit faces	J2
Though drowsing in the glare and heat	S
And snuffing the warm savour in	O
Dead certain of their fill of meat	S
I felt the bit between the teeth	K2
The flying heels the broken traces	J2
And heard the highroad ring beneath	K2
The trampling hoofs and knew them kin	O
Then for the first time standing there	H
Behind the woman who had hailed me	R
I saw a girl with eyes astare	H
That looked in terror o'er my head	P
And all at once my courage failed me	R
For now again and sore adread	P
My hands were hot upon a hare	H
That struggled strangling in the snare	H
Then once more as the girl stood clear	H
Before me quaking cold with fear	H
I saw the hare look from her eyes	Y
	-
And when at last I turned to see	R
What held her scared I saw a man	L2
A fat man with dull eyes aleer	H
Within the shadow of the van	L2
And I was on the point to rise	Y
To send him spinning 'mid the wheels	M2
And stop his leering grin with mud	P
And would have done it in a tick	J
When suddenly alive with fright	P
She started with red parted lips	N2
As though she guessed we'd come to grips	N2
And turned her black eyes full on me	R
And as I looked into their light	P
My heart forgot the lust of fight	P
And something shot me to the quick	J
And ran like wildfire through my blood	P
And tingled to my finger tips	N2
And in a dazzling flash I knew	O2
I'd never been alive before	H
And she was mine for evermore	H
	-
While all the others slept asnore	H
In caravan and tent that night	P
I lay alone beside the fire	H
And stared into its blazing core	H
With eyes that would not shut or tire	H
Because the best of all was true	H
And they looked still into the light	P
Of her eyes burning ever bright	P
Within the brightest coal for me	R
Once more I saw her as she started	P
And glanced at me with red lips parted	P
And as she looked the frightened hare	H
Had fled her eyes and merrily	R
She smiled with fine teeth flashing white	P
As though she too were happy hearted	P
Then she had trembled suddenly	R
And dropped her eyes as that fat man	L2
Stepped from the shadow of the van	L2
And joined the circle as the pot	P
Was lifted off and piping hot	P
The supper steamed in wooden bowls	P2
Yet she had hardly touched a bite	P
And never raised her eyes all night	P
To mine again but on the coals	P2
As I sat staring she had stared	P
The black curls shining round her head	P
From under the red kerchief tied	P
So nattily beneath her chin	O
And she had stolen off to bed	P
Quite early looking dazed and scared	P
Then all agape and sleepy eyed	P
Ere long the others had turned in	O
And I was rid of that fat man	L2
Who slouched away to his own van	L2
	-
And now before her van I lay	Q
With sleepless eyes awaiting day	Q
And as I gazed upon the glare	H
I heard behind a gentle stir	H
And turning round I looked on her	H
Where she stood on the little stair	H
Outside the van with listening air	H
And in her eyes the hunted hare	H
And then I saw her slip away	Q
A bundle underneath her arm	Q2
Without a single glance at me	R
I lay a moment wondering	J
My heart a thump like anything	J
Then fearing she should come to harm	Q2
I rose and followed speedily	R
Where she had vanished in the night	P
And as she heard my step behind	P
She started and stopt dead with fright	P
Then blundered on as if struck blind	P
And now as I caught up with her	H
Just as she took the moorland track	J
I saw the hare's eyes big and black	J
She made as though she'd double back	J
But when she looked into my eyes	Y
She stood quite still and did not stir	H
And picking up her fallen pack	J
I tucked it 'neath my arm and she	R
Just took her luck quite quietly	R
As she must take what chance might come	R2
And would not have it otherwise	Y
And walked into the night with me	R
Without a word across the fells	S2
	-
And all about us through the night	P
The mists were stealing cold and white	P
Down every rushy syke or slack	J
But soon the moon swung into sight	P
And as we went my heart was light	P
And singing like a burn in flood	P
And in my ears were tinkling bells	S2
My body was a rattled drum	R2
And fifes were shrilling through my blood	P
That summer night to think that she	R
Was walking through the world with me	R
	-
But when the air with dawn was chill	Z
As we were travelling down a hill	Z
She broke her silence with low sobbing	J
And told her tale her bosom throbbing	J
As though her very heart were shaken	I
With fear she'd yet be overtaken	I
She'd always lived in caravans	T2
Her father's gay as any man's	T2
Grass green picked out with red and yellow	H
And glittering brave with burnished brass	U2
That sparkled in the sun like flame	V2
And window curtains white as snow	H
But they had died ten years ago	H
Her parents both when fever came	V2
And they were buried side by side	P
Somewhere beneath the wayside grass	U2
In times of sickness they kept wide	P
Of towns and busybodies so	H
No parson's or policeman's tricks	W2
Should bother them when in a fix	W2
Her father never could abide	P
A black coat or a blue poor man	L2
And so Long Dick a kindly fellow	H
When you could keep him from the can	L2
And Meg his easy going wife	X2
Had taken her into their van	L2
And kept her since her parents died	P
And she had lived a happy life	X2
Until Fat Pete's young wife was taken	I
But ever since he'd pestered her	H
And she dared scarcely breathe or stir	H
Lest she should see his eyes aleer	H
And many a night she'd lain and shaken	I
And very nearly died of fear	H
Though safe enough within the van	L2
With Mother Meg and her good man	L2
For since Fat Pete was Long Dick's friend	P
And they were thick and sweet as honey	R
And Dick owed Pete a pot of money	R
She knew too well how it must end	P
And she would rather lie stone dead	P
Beneath the wayside grass than wed	P
With leering Pete and live the life	X2
And die the death of his first wife	X2
And so last night clean daft with dread	P
She'd bundled up a pack and fled	P
	-
When all the sobbing tale was out	P
She dried her eyes and looked about	P
As though she'd left all fear behind	P
And out of sight were out of mind	P
Then when the dawn was burning red	P
'I'm hungry as a hawk ' she said	P
And from the bundle took out bread	P
And at the happy end of night	P
We sat together by a burn	Y2
And ate a thick slice turn by turn	Y2
And laughed and kissed between each bite	P
	-
Then up again and on our way	Q
We went and tramped the livelong day	Q
The moorland trackways steep and rough	U
Though there was little fear enough	U
That they would follow on our flight	P
	-
And then again a shiny night	P
Among the honey scented heather	H
We wandered in the moonblaze bright	P
Together through a land of light	P
A lad and lass alone with life	X2
And merrily we laughed together	H
When starting up from sleep we heard	P
The cock grouse talking to his wife	X2
And 'Old Fat Pete' she called the bird	P
	-
Six months and more have cantered by	K
And Winter past we're out again	Z2
We've left the fat and weatherwise	W2
To keep their coops and reeking sties	W2
And eat their fill of oven pies	W2
While we win free and out again	Z2
To take potluck beneath the sky	K
With sun and moon and wind and rain	A3
Six happy months and yet at night	P
I've often wakened in affright	P
And looked upon her lying there	H
Beside me sleeping quietly	R
Adread that when she waked I'd see	R
The hunted hare within her eyes	W2
	-
And only last night as I slept	P
Beneath the shelter of a stack	J
My hands were hot upon a hare	H
Half strangled struggling in the snare	H
When suddenly her eyes shot back	J
Big fearful staggering and black	J
And ere I knew my grip was slack	J
And I was clutching empty air	H
Bolt upright from my sleep I leapt	P
Her place was empty in the straw	H
And then with quaking heart I saw	H
That she was standing in the night	P
A leveret cuddled to her breast	P
	-
I spoke no word but as the light	P
Through banks of Eastern cloud was breaking	J
She turned and saw that I was waking	J
And told me how she could not rest	P
And rising in the night she'd found	P
This baby hare crouched on the ground	P
And she had nursed it quite a while	B3
But now she'd better let it go	H
Its mother would be fretting so	H
A mother's heart	P
I saw her smile	B3
And look at me with tender eyes	W2
And as I looked into their light	P
My foolish fearful heart grew wise	W2
And now I knew that never there	H
I'd see again the startled hare	H
Or need to dread the dreams of night	P

Wilfrid Wilson Gibson

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