The Damsel Of Peru Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCC DDEEAA FFGGHH IIJJKK LMEENN FFOOPP QRSSTT| Where olive leaves were twinkling in every wind that blew | A |
| There sat beneath the pleasant shade a damsel of Peru | A |
| Betwixt the slender boughs as they opened to the air | B |
| Came glimpses of her ivory neck and of her glossy hair | B |
| And sweetly rang her silver voice within that shady nook | C |
| As from the shrubby glen is heard the sound of hidden brook | C |
| - | |
| 'Tis a song of love and valour in the noble Spanish tongue | D |
| That once upon the sunny plains of old Castile was sung | D |
| When from their mountain holds on the Moorish rout below | E |
| Had rushed the Christians like a flood and swept away the foe | E |
| A while that melody is still and then breaks forth anew | A |
| A wilder rhyme a livelier note of freedom and Peru | A |
| - | |
| For she has bound the sword to a youthful lover's side | F |
| And sent him to the war the day she should have been his bride | F |
| And bade him bear a faithful heart to battle for the right | G |
| And held the fountains of her eyes till he was out of sight | G |
| Since the parting kiss was given six weary months are fled | H |
| And yet the foe is in the land and blood must yet be shed | H |
| - | |
| A white hand parts the branches a lovely face looks forth | I |
| And bright dark eyes gaze steadfastly and sadly toward the north | I |
| Thou look'st in vain sweet maiden the sharpest sight would fail | J |
| To spy a sign of human life abroad in all the vale | J |
| For the noon is coming on and the sunbeams fiercely beat | K |
| And the silent hills and forest tops seem reeling in the heat | K |
| - | |
| That white hand is withdrawn that fair sad face is gone | L |
| But the music of that silver voice is flowing sweetly on | M |
| Not as of late in cheerful tones but mournfully and low | E |
| A ballad of a tender maid heart broken long ago | E |
| Of him who died in battle the youthful and the brave | N |
| And her who died of sorrow upon his early grave | N |
| - | |
| But see along that mountain's slope a fiery horseman ride | F |
| Mark his torn plume his tarnished belt the sabre at his side | F |
| His spurs are buried rowel deep he rides with loosened rein | O |
| There's blood upon his charger's flank and foam upon the mane | O |
| He speeds him toward the olive grove along that shaded hill | P |
| God shield the helpless maiden there if he should mean her ill | P |
| - | |
| And suddenly that song has ceased and suddenly I hear | Q |
| A shriek sent up amid the shade a shriek but not of fear | R |
| For tender accents follow and tenderer pauses speak | S |
| The overflow of gladness when words are all too weak | S |
| I lay my good sword at thy feet for now Peru is free | T |
| And I am come to dwell beside the olive grove with thee | T |
William Cullen Bryant
(1)
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