The Castaway Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCC DEDEFG HIHIJJ KLKLMM BNBOPP QRQRAA STUTVV WPWPXX YZYA2B2B2 C2D2C2D2E2E2 F2G2F2G2QQ| Obscurest night involv'd the sky | A |
| Th' Atlantic billows roar'd | B |
| When such a destin'd wretch as I | A |
| Wash'd headlong from on board | B |
| Of friends of hope of all bereft | C |
| His floating home for ever left | C |
| - | |
| No braver chief could Albion boast | D |
| Than he with whom he went | E |
| Nor ever ship left Albion's coast | D |
| With warmer wishes sent | E |
| He lov'd them both but both in vain | F |
| Nor him beheld nor her again | G |
| - | |
| Not long beneath the whelming brine | H |
| Expert to swim he lay | I |
| Nor soon he felt his strength decline | H |
| Or courage die away | I |
| But wag'd with death a lasting strife | J |
| Supported by despair of life | J |
| - | |
| He shouted nor his friends had fail'd | K |
| To check the vessel's course | L |
| But so the furious blast prevail'd | K |
| That pitiless perforce | L |
| They left their outcast mate behind | M |
| And scudded still before the wind | M |
| - | |
| Some succour yet they could afford | B |
| And such as storms allow | N |
| The cask the coop the floated cord | B |
| Delay'd not to bestow | O |
| But he they knew nor ship nor shore | P |
| Whate'er they gave should visit more | P |
| - | |
| Nor cruel as it seem'd could he | Q |
| Their haste himself condemn | R |
| Aware that flight in such a sea | Q |
| Alone could rescue them | R |
| Yet bitter felt it still to die | A |
| Deserted and his friends so nigh | A |
| - | |
| He long survives who lives an hour | S |
| In ocean self upheld | T |
| And so long he with unspent pow'r | U |
| His destiny repell'd | T |
| And ever as the minutes flew | V |
| Entreated help or cried Adieu | V |
| - | |
| At length his transient respite past | W |
| His comrades who before | P |
| Had heard his voice in ev'ry blast | W |
| Could catch the sound no more | P |
| For then by toil subdued he drank | X |
| The stifling wave and then he sank | X |
| - | |
| No poet wept him but the page | Y |
| Of narrative sincere | Z |
| That tells his name his worth his age | Y |
| Is wet with Anson's tear | A2 |
| And tears by bards or heroes shed | B2 |
| Alike immortalize the dead | B2 |
| - | |
| I therefore purpose not or dream | C2 |
| Descanting on his fate | D2 |
| To give the melancholy theme | C2 |
| A more enduring date | D2 |
| But misery still delights to trace | E2 |
| Its semblance in another's case | E2 |
| - | |
| No voice divine the storm allay'd | F2 |
| No light propitious shone | G2 |
| When snatch'd from all effectual aid | F2 |
| We perish'd each alone | G2 |
| But I beneath a rougher sea | Q |
| And whelm'd in deeper gulfs than he | Q |
William Cowper
(2)
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About The Castaway
The Castaway is a poem by William Cowper. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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