The Flatting Mill. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCBC DEDE FGFH IJIJ KEKE LMLM| An Illustration | A |
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| When a bar of pure silver or ingot of gold | B |
| Is sent to be flatted or wrought into length | C |
| It is pass'd between cylinders often and roll'd | B |
| In an engine of utmost mechanical strength | C |
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| Thus tortured and squeezed at last it appears | D |
| Like a loose heap of ribbon a glittering show | E |
| Like music it tinkles and rings in your ears | D |
| And warm'd by the pressure is all in a glow | E |
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| This process achieved it is doom'd to sustain | F |
| The thump after thump of a gold beater's mallet | G |
| And at last is of service in sickness or pain | F |
| To cover a pill for a delicate palate | H |
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| Alas for the poet who dares undertake | I |
| To urge reformation of national ill | J |
| His head and his heart are both likely to ache | I |
| With the double employment of mallet and mill | J |
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| If he wish to instruct he must learn to delight | K |
| Smooth ductile and even his fancy must flow | E |
| Must tinkle and glitter like gold to the sight | K |
| And catch in its progress a sensible glow | E |
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| After all he must beat it as thin and as fine | L |
| As the leaf that enfolds what an invalid swallows | M |
| For truth is unwelcome however divine | L |
| And unless you adorn it a nausea follows | M |
William Cowper
(1)
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