The Elephant Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB BCBC DEDE FGFG BBBB HIHI JKJK LMLM NONO PQPQ RSTS UVUV WEWE XCXC IYIY MBMB VZVZ A2MA2M B2LBL C2YC2Y D2E2D2E2 F2VF2V BCBC AG2AG2Say nature on whose wond'rous reign | A |
Delighted fancy dwells | B |
Of all thy numerous brutal train | A |
What animal excells | B |
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What quadruped most nobly vies | B |
In virtue with mankind | C |
Like man deliberately wise | B |
And resolutely kind | C |
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Beneath a form vast and uncouth | D |
Such excellence is found | E |
Sagacious Elephant thy truth | D |
Thy kindness is renown'd | E |
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More mild than sanguinary man | F |
Whose servant thou hast prov'd | G |
Oft in his frantic battle's van | F |
Thy bulk has stood unmoved | G |
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There oft thy spirit griev'd to see | B |
His murd'rous rage encrease | B |
'Till mad himself he madden'd thee | B |
Thou nobler friend to peace | B |
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Acts of thy courage might occur | H |
To grace heroic song | I |
But I thy gentle deeds prefer | H |
Thou strongest of the strong | I |
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Where India serves the British throne | J |
In scenes no longer wild | K |
A menial Elephant was known | J |
Most singularly mild | K |
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It was his custom fresh and gay | L |
By his attendant led | M |
Walking to water every day | L |
To pass a gard'ner's shed | M |
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This gard'ner of good natured fame | N |
Admir'd the noble beast | O |
And gave him whensoe'er he came | N |
A vegetable feast | O |
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Some dainty from his stall bestow'd | P |
So made the beast his friend | Q |
'Twas joy to see at this abode | P |
His blythe proboscis bend | Q |
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Not coarsely eager for his food | R |
He seem'd his love to court | S |
And oft delighted as he stood | T |
To yield his children sport | S |
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As if to thank them for each gift | U |
With tender touching care | V |
The boys he to his back would lift | U |
And still caress them there | V |
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In short his placid gambols seem'd | W |
Affection so profound | E |
His friendship for this man was deem'd | W |
A wonder all around | E |
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But O can humour's giddy range | X |
Mislead the brutal mind | C |
Can elephants their friendship change | X |
As fickle as mankind | C |
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See now the hero of my song | I |
That theme of every tongue | Y |
Alone and fierce he stalks along | I |
As if with frenzy stung | Y |
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See to the gard'ner's well known shed | M |
Impetuous he flies | B |
Seizes his friend in silent dread | M |
And lifts him to the skies | B |
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High as his trunk the man can bear | V |
Th' astonish'd man he bore | Z |
Who vainly struggled in the air | V |
And trembled more and more | Z |
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So wild so swift the monster past | A2 |
All deem'd him mad and fled | M |
Thro' a high window gently cast | A2 |
With terror almost dead | M |
- | |
The astounded gard'ner view'd with awe | B2 |
The savage speed away | L |
But soon with gratitude he saw | B |
The source of his dismay | L |
- | |
Unthought of source for now inflam'd | C2 |
A ravenous tyger sprung | Y |
And at the window vainly aim'd | C2 |
To which he trembling clung | Y |
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And now with joy his heart strings swell | D2 |
And blest he deems his lot | E2 |
For the foil'd tyger as he fell | D2 |
A latent marksman shot | E2 |
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The Elephant returns O Heaven | F2 |
How tender was his air | V |
Seeing the friend whose life was given | F2 |
To his preserving care | V |
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For conscious of the danger he | B |
Most providently kind | C |
From unseen ill to set him free | B |
Such rescue had designed | C |
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Ye whom a friend's dark perils pain | A |
When terrors most unnerve him | G2 |
Learn from this Elephant to strain | A |
Your sinews to preserve him | G2 |
William Hayley
(1)
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