The Churchyard Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCD EFEGHIHI JKJKLKLK MNMNOPOP KQKQKDKD RSRSTATA| HOW slowly creeps the hand of Time | A |
| On the old clock s green mantled face | B |
| Yea slowly as those ivies climb | A |
| The hours roll round with patient pace | B |
| The drowsy rooks caw on the tower | C |
| The tame doves hover round and round | D |
| Below the slow grass hour by hour | C |
| Makes green God s sleeping ground | D |
| - | |
| All moves but nothing here is swift | E |
| The grass grows deep the green boughs shoot | F |
| From east to west the shadows drift | E |
| The earth feels heavenward underfoot | G |
| The slow stream through the bridge doth stray | H |
| With water lilies on its marge | I |
| And slowly pil d with scented hay | H |
| Creeps by the silent barge | I |
| - | |
| All stirs but nothing here is loud | J |
| The cushat broods the cuckoo cries | K |
| Faint far up under a white cloud | J |
| The lark trills soft to earth and skies | K |
| And underneath the green graves rest | L |
| And through the place with slow footfalls | K |
| With snowy cambric on his breast | L |
| The old gray Vicar crawls | K |
| - | |
| And close at hand to see him come | M |
| Clustering at the playground gate | N |
| The urchins of the schoolhouse dumb | M |
| And bashful hang the head and wait | N |
| The little maidens curtsey deep | O |
| The boys their forelocks touch meanwhile | P |
| The Vicar sees them half asleep | O |
| And smiles a sleepy smile | P |
| - | |
| Slow as the hand on the clock s face | K |
| Slow as the white cloud in the sky | Q |
| He cometh now with tottering pace | K |
| To the old vicarage hard by | Q |
| Smother d it stands in ivy leaves | K |
| Laurels and yews make dark the ground | D |
| The swifts that build beneath the eaves | K |
| Wheel in still circles round | D |
| - | |
| And from the portal green and dark | R |
| He glances at the church clock old | S |
| Gray soul why seek his eyes to mark | R |
| The creeping of that finger cold | S |
| He cannot see but still as stone | T |
| He pauses listening for the chime | A |
| And hears from that green tower intone | T |
| The eternal voice of Time | A |
William Cosmo Monkhouse
(1)
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About The Churchyard
The Churchyard is a poem by William Cosmo Monkhouse. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.