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 M2BK2BG2J2G2J2G2BG2BCOME hither Evan Cameron | A |
Come stand beside my knee | B |
I hear the river roaring down | C |
Towards the wintry sea | B |
There s shouting on the mountain side | D |
There s war within the blast | E |
Old faces look upon me | B |
Old forms go trooping past | E |
I hear the pibroch wailing | F |
Amidst the din of fight | G |
And my dim spirit wakes again | H |
Upon the verge of night | G |
- | |
T was I that led the Highland host | I |
Through wild Lochaber s snows | J |
What time the plaided clans came down | C |
To battle with Montrose | J |
I ve told thee how the Southrons fell | K |
Beneath the broad claymore | L |
And how we smote the Campbell clan | M |
By Inverlochy s shore | L |
I ve told thee how we swept Dundee | B |
And tam d the Lindsays pride | D |
But never have I told thee yet | N |
How the great Marquis died | D |
- | |
A traitor sold him to his foes | J |
O deed of deathless shame | O |
I charge thee boy if e er thou meet | P |
With one of Assynt s name | O |
Be it upon the mountain s side | D |
Or yet within the glen | H |
Stand he in martial gear alone | Q |
Or back d by armed men | H |
Face him as thou wouldst face the man | M |
Who wrong d thy sire s renown | C |
Remember of what blood thou art | R |
And strike the caitiff down | C |
- | |
They brought him to the Watergate | S |
Hard bound with hempen span | M |
As though they held a lion there | T |
And not a fenceless man | M |
They set him high upon a cart | R |
The hangman rode below | U |
They drew his hands behind his back | V |
And bar d his noble brow | W |
Then as a hound is slipp d from leash | X |
They cheer d the common throng | Y |
And blew the note with yell and shout | Z |
And bade him pass along | Y |
- | |
It would have made a brave man s heart | R |
Grow sad and sick that day | A2 |
To watch the keen malignant eyes | B2 |
Bent down on that array | A2 |
There stood the Whig west country lords | C2 |
In balcony and bow | W |
There sat their gaunt and wither d dames | D2 |
And their daughters all a row | U |
And every open window | U |
Was full as full might be | B |
With black rob d Covenanting carles | E2 |
That goodly sport to see | B |
- | |
But when he came though pale and wan | F2 |
He look d so great and high | G2 |
So noble was his manly front | H2 |
So calm his steadfast eye | G2 |
The rabble rout forbore to shout | Z |
And each man held his breath | I2 |
For well they knew the hero s soul | J2 |
Was face to face with death | I2 |
And then a mournful shudder | K2 |
Through all the people crept | L2 |
And some that came to scoff at him | M2 |
Now turn d aside and wept | L2 |
- | |
But onwards always onwards | N2 |
In silence and in gloom | O2 |
The dreary pageant labor d | B |
Till it reach d the house of doom | O2 |
Then first a woman s voice was heard | P2 |
In jeer and laughter loud | Q2 |
And an angry cry and a hiss arose | J |
From the heart of the tossing crowd | Q2 |
Then as the Graeme look d upwards | N2 |
He saw the ugly smile | R2 |
Of him who sold his king for gold | S2 |
The master fiend Argyle | R2 |
- | |
The Marquis gaz d a moment | H2 |
And nothing did he say | A2 |
But the cheek of Argyle grew ghastly pale | T2 |
And he turn d his eyes away | A2 |
The painted harlot by his side | D |
She shook through every limb | M2 |
For a roar like thunder swept the street | P |
And hands were clench d at him | M2 |
And a Saxon soldier cried aloud | Q2 |
Back coward from thy place | U2 |
For seven long years thou hast not dar d | B |
To look him in the face | U2 |
- | |
Had I been there with sword in hand | V2 |
And fifty Camerons by | G2 |
That day through high Dunedin s streets | W2 |
Had peal d the slogan cry | G2 |
Not all their troops of trampling horse | X2 |
Nor might of mailed men | H |
Not all the rebels in the south | Y2 |
Had borne us backwards then | H |
Once more his foot on Highland heath | Z2 |
Had trod as free as air | T |
Or I and all who bore my name | O |
Been laid around him there | T |
- | |
It might not be They placed him next | A3 |
Within the solemn hall | B3 |
Where once the Scottish kings were thron d | B |
Amidst their nobles all | B3 |
But there was dust of vulgar feet | P |
On that polluted floor | L |
And perju d traitors fill d the place | U2 |
Where good men sate before | L |
With savage glee came Warristoun | H |
To read the murderous doom | O2 |
And then uprose the great Montrose | J |
In the middle of the room | O2 |
- | |
Now by my faith as belted knight | G |
And by the name I bear | T |
And by the bright Saint Andrew s cross | C3 |
That waves above us there | T |
Yea by a greater mightier oath | D3 |
And oh that such should be | B |
By that dark stream of royal blood | E3 |
That lies twixt you and me | B |
I have not sought in battle field | F3 |
A wreath of such renown | H |
Nor dar d I hope on my dying day | A2 |
To win the martyr s crown | H |
- | |
There is a chamber far away | A2 |
Where sleep the good and brave | G3 |
But a better place ye have nam d for me | B |
Than by my father s grave | G3 |
For truth and right gainst treason s might | G |
This hand hath always striven | H |
And ye raise it up for a witness still | H3 |
In the eye of earth and heaven | H |
Then nail my head on yonder tower | K2 |
Give every town a limb | M2 |
And God who made shall gather them | I3 |
I go from you to Him | M2 |
- | |
The morning dawn d full darkly | B |
The rain came flashing down | H |
And the jagged streak of the levin bolt | J3 |
Lit up the gloomy town | H |
The thunder crash d across the heaven | H |
The fatal hour was come | K3 |
Yet aye broke in with muffled beat | P |
The larum of the drum | K3 |
There was madness on the earth below | U |
And anger in the sky | G2 |
And young and old and rich and poor | L3 |
Came forth to see him die | G2 |
- | |
Ah God that ghastly gibbet | G2 |
How dismal t is to see | B |
The great tall spectral skeleton | H |
The ladder and the tree | B |
Hark hark it is the clash of arms | M3 |
The bells begin to toll | J2 |
He is coming he is coming | F |
God s mercy on his soul | J2 |
One last long peal of thunder | K2 |
The clouds are clear d away | A2 |
And the glorious sun once more looks down | H |
Amidst the dazzling day | A2 |
- | |
He is coming he is coming | F |
Like a bridegroom from his room | O2 |
Came the hero from his prison | H |
To the scaffold and the doom | O2 |
There was glory on his forehead | G2 |
There was lustre in his eye | G2 |
And he never walk d to battle | N3 |
More proudly than to die | G2 |
There was color in his visage | O3 |
Though the cheeks of all were wan | H |
And they marvell d as they saw him pass | P3 |
That great and goodly man | H |
- | |
He mounted up the scaffold | G2 |
And he turn d him to the crowd | G2 |
But they dar d not trust the people | N3 |
So he might not speak aloud | G2 |
But he look d upon the heavens | Q3 |
And they were clear and blue | R3 |
And in the liquid ether | K2 |
The eye of God shone through | R3 |
Yet a black and murky battlement | G2 |
Lay resting on the hill | H3 |
As though the thunder slept within | H |
All else was clam and still | H3 |
- | |
The grim Geneva ministers | S3 |
With anxious scowl drew near | T3 |
As you have seen the ravens flock | U3 |
Around the dying deer | T3 |
He would not deign them word nor sign | H |
But alone he bent the knee | B |
And veil d his face for Christ s dear grace | U2 |
Beneath the gallows tree | B |
Then radiant and serene he rose | J |
And cast his cloak away | A2 |
For he had ta en his latest look | V3 |
Of earth and sun and day | A2 |
- | |
A beam of light fell o er him | M2 |
Like a glory round the shriven | B |
And he climb d the lofty ladder | K2 |
As it were the path to heaven | B |
Then came a flash from out the cloud | G2 |
And a stunning thunder roll | J2 |
And no man dar d to look aloft | G2 |
For fear was on every soul | J2 |
There was another heavy sound | G2 |
A hush and then a groan | B |
And darkness swept across the sky | G2 |
The work of death was done | B |
William Edmondstoune Aytoun
(1)
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