Madeleine Vercheres Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABBACDC EFAFGHIH AJKJLMMM ANANLCAL AOPOQDDD CLCLACML COFOAMCM MLRCSCC DMEMCOAO MLLLMLTC CUAUMVAV LWCWAXL MMMMOCCQ AYAYALML AEZECML ZJACA2B2MC2 WD2E2D2C2LEL LQMCXCLC MCF2CELDC QDCDA2G2A2G2I've told you many a tale my child of the | A |
old heroic days | B |
Of Indian wars and massacre of villages ablaze | B |
With savage torch from Ville Marie to the | A |
Mission of Trois Rivieres | C |
But never have I told you yet of Madeleine | D |
Vercheres | C |
- | |
Summer had come with its blossoms and gaily | E |
the robin sang | F |
And deep in the forest arches the axe of the | A |
woodman rang | F |
Again in the waving meadows the sun browned | G |
farmers met | H |
And out on the green St Lawrence the fisher | I |
man spread his net | H |
- | |
And so through the pleasant season till the | A |
days of October came | J |
When children wrought their parents and | K |
even the old and lame | J |
With tottering frames and footsteps their | L |
feeble labors lent | M |
At the gathering of the harvest le bon Dieu | M |
himself had sent | M |
- | |
For news there was none of battle from the | A |
forts on the Richelieu | N |
To the gates of the ancient city where the | A |
flag of King Louis flew | N |
All peaceful the skies hung over the seignerie | L |
of Vercheres | C |
Like the calm that so often cometh ere the | A |
hurricanes rends the air | L |
- | |
And never a thought of danger had the | A |
Seigneur sailing away | O |
To join the soldiers of Carignan where down | P |
at Quebec they lay | O |
But smiled on his little daughter the maiden | Q |
Madeleine | D |
And a necklet of jewels promised her when | D |
home he should come again | D |
- | |
And ever the days passed swiftly and careless | C |
the workmen grew | L |
For the months they seemed a hundred since | C |
the last war bugle blew | L |
Ah little they dreamt on their pillows the | A |
farmers of Vercheres | C |
That the wolves of the southern forest had | M |
scented the harvest fair | L |
- | |
Like ravens they quickly gather like tigers | C |
they watch their prey | O |
Poor people with hearts so happy they sang | F |
as they toiled away | O |
Till the murderous eyeballs glistened and the | A |
tomahawk leaped out | M |
And the banks on the green St Lawrence | C |
echoed the savage shout | M |
- | |
'Oh mother of Christ have pity ' shrieked | M |
the women in despair | L |
'This is no time for praying ' cried the young | R |
Madeleine Vercheres | C |
'Aux armes aux armes les Iroquois quick | S |
to your arms and guns | C |
Fight for your God and country and the lives | C |
of the inocent ones ' | - |
- | |
And she sped like a deer of the mountain when | D |
beagles press close behind | M |
And the feet that would follow after must be | E |
swift as the prairie wind | M |
Alas for the men and women and litle ones | C |
that day | O |
For the road it was long and weary and the | A |
fort it was far away | O |
- | |
But the fawn had outstripped the hunters and | M |
the palisades drew near | L |
And soon from the inner gateway the war | L |
bugle rang out clear | L |
Gallant and clear it sounded with never a note | M |
of despair | L |
'T was a soldier of France's challenge from | T |
the young Madeleine Vercheres | C |
- | |
'And this is my little garrison my brothers | C |
Louis and Paul | U |
With soldiers two and a cripple may the | A |
Virgin pray for us all | U |
But we've powder and guns in plenty and | M |
we 'll fight to the latest breath | V |
And if need be for God and country die a | A |
brave soldier's death | V |
- | |
'Load all the carabines quickly and whenever | L |
you sight the foe | W |
Fire from the upper turret and the loopholes | C |
down below | W |
Keep up the fire brave soldiers though the | A |
fight may be fierce and long | X |
And they 'll think out little garrison is more | L |
than a hundred strong ' | - |
- | |
So spake the maiden Madeleine and she roused | M |
the Norman blood | M |
That seemed for a moment sleeping and sent | M |
it like a flood | M |
Though every heart around her and they | O |
fought the red Iroquois | C |
As fought in the old time battles the soldiers | C |
of Carignan | Q |
- | |
And they say the black clouds gathered and a | A |
tempest swept the sky | Y |
And the roar of the thunder mingled with the | A |
forest tiger's cry | Y |
But still the garrison fought on while the | A |
lightning's jagged spear | L |
Tore a hole in the night's dark curtain and | M |
showed them a foeman near | L |
- | |
And the sun rose up in the morning and the | A |
color of blood was he | E |
Gazing down from the heavens on the little | Z |
company | E |
'Behold my friend ' cried the maiden ' 't is | C |
a warning lest we forget | M |
Though the night saw us do our duty our | L |
work is not finished yet ' | - |
- | |
And six days followed each other and feeble | Z |
her limbs became | J |
Yet the maid never sought her pillow and the | A |
flash of the carabines' flames | C |
Illuminated the powder smoked face aye even | A2 |
when hope seemed gone | B2 |
And she only smiled on her comrades and told | M |
them to fight fight on | C2 |
- | |
And she blew a blast on the bugle and lo | W |
from the forest black | D2 |
Merrily merrily ringing an answer came peal | E2 |
ing back | D2 |
Oh pleasant and sweet it sounded borne on | C2 |
the morning air | L |
For it heralded fifty soldiers with gallant De | E |
la Monniere | L |
- | |
And when he beheld the maiden the soldier | L |
of Carignan | Q |
And looked on the little garrison that fought | M |
the red Iroquois | C |
And held their own in the battle for six long | X |
weary days | C |
He stood for a moment speechless and mar | L |
velled at woman's ways | C |
- | |
Then he beckoned the men behind him and | M |
steadily they advance | C |
And with carabines uplifted the veterans of | F2 |
France | C |
Saluted the brave young captain so timidly | E |
standing there | L |
And they fired a volley in honor of Madeleine | D |
Vercheres | C |
- | |
And this my dear is the story of the maiden | Q |
Madeleine | D |
God grant that we in Canada may never see | C |
again | D |
Such cruel wars and massacres in waking or in | A2 |
dream | G2 |
As our fathers and mothers saw my child in | A2 |
the days of the old regime | G2 |
William Henry Drummond
(1)
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