The Execution Of Montrose Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDEBEFGHG IJCJKLMLBDND JOPODHQHMCRC SMTMRUVWXYZY RA2B2A2C2WD2UUBE2B F2G2H2G2ZI2J2I2K2L2M 2L2 N2O2BO2P2Q2JQ2N2R2S2 R2 H2A2T2A2DM2PM2Q2U2BU 2 V2G2W2G2X2HY2HZ2TOT A3B3BB3PLU2LHO2JO2 GTC3TD3BE3BF3HA2H A2G3BG3GHH3HK2M2I3M2 BHJ3HHK3PK3UG2L3G2 G2BHBM3J2FJ2K2A2HA2 FO2HO2G2G2N3G2O3HP3H G2G2N3G2Q3R3K2R3G2H3 HH3 S3T3U3T3HBU2BJA2V3A2 M2BK2BG2J2G2J2G2BG2B

COME hither Evan CameronA
Come stand beside my kneeB
I hear the river roaring downC
Towards the wintry seaB
There s shouting on the mountain sideD
There s war within the blastE
Old faces look upon meB
Old forms go trooping pastE
I hear the pibroch wailingF
Amidst the din of fightG
And my dim spirit wakes againH
Upon the verge of nightG
-
T was I that led the Highland hostI
Through wild Lochaber s snowsJ
What time the plaided clans came downC
To battle with MontroseJ
I ve told thee how the Southrons fellK
Beneath the broad claymoreL
And how we smote the Campbell clanM
By Inverlochy s shoreL
I ve told thee how we swept DundeeB
And tam d the Lindsays prideD
But never have I told thee yetN
How the great Marquis diedD
-
A traitor sold him to his foesJ
O deed of deathless shameO
I charge thee boy if e er thou meetP
With one of Assynt s nameO
Be it upon the mountain s sideD
Or yet within the glenH
Stand he in martial gear aloneQ
Or back d by armed menH
Face him as thou wouldst face the manM
Who wrong d thy sire s renownC
Remember of what blood thou artR
And strike the caitiff downC
-
They brought him to the WatergateS
Hard bound with hempen spanM
As though they held a lion thereT
And not a fenceless manM
They set him high upon a cartR
The hangman rode belowU
They drew his hands behind his backV
And bar d his noble browW
Then as a hound is slipp d from leashX
They cheer d the common throngY
And blew the note with yell and shoutZ
And bade him pass alongY
-
It would have made a brave man s heartR
Grow sad and sick that dayA2
To watch the keen malignant eyesB2
Bent down on that arrayA2
There stood the Whig west country lordsC2
In balcony and bowW
There sat their gaunt and wither d damesD2
And their daughters all a rowU
And every open windowU
Was full as full might beB
With black rob d Covenanting carlesE2
That goodly sport to seeB
-
But when he came though pale and wanF2
He look d so great and highG2
So noble was his manly frontH2
So calm his steadfast eyeG2
The rabble rout forbore to shoutZ
And each man held his breathI2
For well they knew the hero s soulJ2
Was face to face with deathI2
And then a mournful shudderK2
Through all the people creptL2
And some that came to scoff at himM2
Now turn d aside and weptL2
-
But onwards always onwardsN2
In silence and in gloomO2
The dreary pageant labor dB
Till it reach d the house of doomO2
Then first a woman s voice was heardP2
In jeer and laughter loudQ2
And an angry cry and a hiss aroseJ
From the heart of the tossing crowdQ2
Then as the Graeme look d upwardsN2
He saw the ugly smileR2
Of him who sold his king for goldS2
The master fiend ArgyleR2
-
The Marquis gaz d a momentH2
And nothing did he sayA2
But the cheek of Argyle grew ghastly paleT2
And he turn d his eyes awayA2
The painted harlot by his sideD
She shook through every limbM2
For a roar like thunder swept the streetP
And hands were clench d at himM2
And a Saxon soldier cried aloudQ2
Back coward from thy placeU2
For seven long years thou hast not dar dB
To look him in the faceU2
-
Had I been there with sword in handV2
And fifty Camerons byG2
That day through high Dunedin s streetsW2
Had peal d the slogan cryG2
Not all their troops of trampling horseX2
Nor might of mailed menH
Not all the rebels in the southY2
Had borne us backwards thenH
Once more his foot on Highland heathZ2
Had trod as free as airT
Or I and all who bore my nameO
Been laid around him thereT
-
It might not be They placed him nextA3
Within the solemn hallB3
Where once the Scottish kings were thron dB
Amidst their nobles allB3
But there was dust of vulgar feetP
On that polluted floorL
And perju d traitors fill d the placeU2
Where good men sate beforeL
With savage glee came WarristounH
To read the murderous doomO2
And then uprose the great MontroseJ
In the middle of the roomO2
-
Now by my faith as belted knightG
And by the name I bearT
And by the bright Saint Andrew s crossC3
That waves above us thereT
Yea by a greater mightier oathD3
And oh that such should beB
By that dark stream of royal bloodE3
That lies twixt you and meB
I have not sought in battle fieldF3
A wreath of such renownH
Nor dar d I hope on my dying dayA2
To win the martyr s crownH
-
There is a chamber far awayA2
Where sleep the good and braveG3
But a better place ye have nam d for meB
Than by my father s graveG3
For truth and right gainst treason s mightG
This hand hath always strivenH
And ye raise it up for a witness stillH3
In the eye of earth and heavenH
Then nail my head on yonder towerK2
Give every town a limbM2
And God who made shall gather themI3
I go from you to HimM2
-
The morning dawn d full darklyB
The rain came flashing downH
And the jagged streak of the levin boltJ3
Lit up the gloomy townH
The thunder crash d across the heavenH
The fatal hour was comeK3
Yet aye broke in with muffled beatP
The larum of the drumK3
There was madness on the earth belowU
And anger in the skyG2
And young and old and rich and poorL3
Came forth to see him dieG2
-
Ah God that ghastly gibbetG2
How dismal t is to seeB
The great tall spectral skeletonH
The ladder and the treeB
Hark hark it is the clash of armsM3
The bells begin to tollJ2
He is coming he is comingF
God s mercy on his soulJ2
One last long peal of thunderK2
The clouds are clear d awayA2
And the glorious sun once more looks downH
Amidst the dazzling dayA2
-
He is coming he is comingF
Like a bridegroom from his roomO2
Came the hero from his prisonH
To the scaffold and the doomO2
There was glory on his foreheadG2
There was lustre in his eyeG2
And he never walk d to battleN3
More proudly than to dieG2
There was color in his visageO3
Though the cheeks of all were wanH
And they marvell d as they saw him passP3
That great and goodly manH
-
He mounted up the scaffoldG2
And he turn d him to the crowdG2
But they dar d not trust the peopleN3
So he might not speak aloudG2
But he look d upon the heavensQ3
And they were clear and blueR3
And in the liquid etherK2
The eye of God shone throughR3
Yet a black and murky battlementG2
Lay resting on the hillH3
As though the thunder slept withinH
All else was clam and stillH3
-
The grim Geneva ministersS3
With anxious scowl drew nearT3
As you have seen the ravens flockU3
Around the dying deerT3
He would not deign them word nor signH
But alone he bent the kneeB
And veil d his face for Christ s dear graceU2
Beneath the gallows treeB
Then radiant and serene he roseJ
And cast his cloak awayA2
For he had ta en his latest lookV3
Of earth and sun and dayA2
-
A beam of light fell o er himM2
Like a glory round the shrivenB
And he climb d the lofty ladderK2
As it were the path to heavenB
Then came a flash from out the cloudG2
And a stunning thunder rollJ2
And no man dar d to look aloftG2
For fear was on every soulJ2
There was another heavy soundG2
A hush and then a groanB
And darkness swept across the skyG2
The work of death was doneB

William Edmondstoune Aytoun



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