An Indian At The Burial-place Of His Fathers. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCC DEDEFF GHGIJK LMLMNN OPOPQQ RSRTUU PVPVHH FWFWXX YZYA2B2B2 QNQNC2C2 D2E2D2E2F2F2 F2F2F2F2F2F2 G2H2G2H2F2F2| It is the spot I came to seek | A |
| My fathers' ancient burial place | B |
| Ere from these vales ashamed and weak | A |
| Withdrew our wasted race | B |
| It is the spot I know it well | C |
| Of which our old traditions tell | C |
| - | |
| For here the upland bank sends out | D |
| A ridge toward the river side | E |
| I know the shaggy hills about | D |
| The meadows smooth and wide | E |
| The plains that toward the southern sky | F |
| Fenced east and west by mountains lie | F |
| - | |
| A white man gazing on the scene | G |
| Would say a lovely spot was here | H |
| And praise the lawns so fresh and green | G |
| Between the hills so sheer | I |
| I like it not I would the plain | J |
| Lay in its tall old groves again | K |
| - | |
| The sheep are on the slopes around | L |
| The cattle in the meadows feed | M |
| And labourers turn the crumbling ground | L |
| Or drop the yellow seed | M |
| And prancing steeds in trappings gay | N |
| Whirl the bright chariot o'er the way | N |
| - | |
| Methinks it were a nobler sight | O |
| To see these vales in woods arrayed | P |
| Their summits in the golden light | O |
| Their trunks in grateful shade | P |
| And herds of deer that bounding go | Q |
| O'er hills and prostrate trees below | Q |
| - | |
| And then to mark the lord of all | R |
| The forest hero trained to wars | S |
| Quivered and plumed and lithe and tall | R |
| And seamed with glorious scars | T |
| Walk forth amid his reign to dare | U |
| The wolf and grapple with the bear | U |
| - | |
| This bank in which the dead were laid | P |
| Was sacred when its soil was ours | V |
| Hither the artless Indian maid | P |
| Brought wreaths of beads and flowers | V |
| And the gray chief and gifted seer | H |
| Worshipped the god of thunders here | H |
| - | |
| But now the wheat is green and high | F |
| On clods that hid the warrior's breast | W |
| And scattered in the furrows lie | F |
| The weapons of his rest | W |
| And there in the loose sand is thrown | X |
| Of his large arm the mouldering bone | X |
| - | |
| Ah little thought the strong and brave | Y |
| Who bore their lifeless chieftain forth | Z |
| Or the young wife that weeping gave | Y |
| Her first born to the earth | A2 |
| That the pale race who waste us now | B2 |
| Among their bones should guide the plough | B2 |
| - | |
| They waste us ay like April snow | Q |
| In the warm noon we shrink away | N |
| And fast they follow as we go | Q |
| Towards the setting day | N |
| Till they shall fill the land and we | C2 |
| Are driven into the western sea | C2 |
| - | |
| But I behold a fearful sign | D2 |
| To which the white men's eyes are blind | E2 |
| Their race may vanish hence like mine | D2 |
| And leave no trace behind | E2 |
| Save ruins o'er the region spread | F2 |
| And the white stones above the dead | F2 |
| - | |
| Before these fields were shorn and tilled | F2 |
| Full to the brim our rivers flowed | F2 |
| The melody of waters filled | F2 |
| The fresh and boundless wood | F2 |
| And torrents dashed and rivulets played | F2 |
| And fountains spouted in the shade | F2 |
| - | |
| Those grateful sounds are heard no more | G2 |
| The springs are silent in the sun | H2 |
| The rivers by the blackened shore | G2 |
| With lessening current run | H2 |
| The realm our tribes are crushed to get | F2 |
| May be a barren desert yet | F2 |
William Cullen Bryant
(1)
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An Indian At The Burial-place Of His Fathers. is a poem by William Cullen Bryant. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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