Elegiac Stanzas - Written During Sickness At Bath. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCB DEDE FGFG HIHI JKJK LMNM OPOP QRQS TUTU VWVX YZYZ A2B2A2B2 GC2GC2 HZHZ QYQY D2ZD2Z QTQT E2F2E2F2 G2MG2M E2H2E2H2 I2J2I2K2 L2M2L2M2 GN2GI SM2SM2When I lie musing on my bed alone | A |
And listen to the wintry waterfall | B |
And many moments that are past and gone | C |
Moments of sunshine and of joy recall | B |
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Though the long night is dark and damp around | D |
And no still star hangs out its friendly flame | E |
And the winds sweep the sash with sullen sound | D |
And freezing palsy creeps o'er all my frame | E |
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I catch consoling phantasies that spring | F |
From the thick gloom and as the night airs beat | G |
They touch my heart like wind swift wires that ring | F |
In mournful modulations strange and sweet | G |
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Was it the voice of thee my buried friend | H |
Was it the whispered vow of faithful love | I |
Do I in Knoyle's green shades thy steps attend | H |
And hear the high pines murmur thus above | I |
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'Twas not thy voice my buried friend Oh no | J |
'Twas not O Knoyle the murmur of thy trees | K |
But at the thought I feel my bosom glow | J |
And woo the dream whose air drawn shadows please | K |
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And I can think I see the groves again | L |
The larches that yon peaceful roof embower | M |
The airy down the cattle speckled plain | N |
And the slant sunshine on the village tower | M |
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And I can think I hear its Sabbath chime | O |
Come smoothly softened down the woody vale | P |
Or mark on yon lone eminence sublime | O |
Fast whirling in the wind the white mill's sail | P |
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Phantom that by my bed dost beckoning glide | Q |
Spectre of Death to the damp charnel hie | R |
Thy dim pale hand thy festering visage hide | Q |
Thou com'st to say I with thy worms shall lie | S |
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Thou com'st to say that my once vacant mind | T |
Amid those scenes shall never more rejoice | U |
Nor on the day of rest the hoary hind | T |
Bend o'er his staff attentive to my voice | U |
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Hast thou not visited that pleasant place | V |
Where in this hard world I have happiest been | W |
And shall I tremble at thy lifted mace | V |
That hath pierced all on which life seemed to lean | X |
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But Hope might whisper Many a smiling day | Y |
And many a cheerful eve may yet be mine | Z |
Ere age's autumn strew my locks with gray | Y |
And weary to the dust my steps decline | Z |
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I argue not but uncomplaining bow | A2 |
To Heaven's high 'hest secure whate'er my lot | B2 |
Meek spirit of resigned Content that thou | A2 |
Wilt smooth my pillow and forsake me not | B2 |
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Thou to the turfy hut with pilgrim feet | G |
Wanderest from halls of loud tumultuous joy | C2 |
Or on the naked down when the winds beat | G |
Dost sing to the forsaken shepherd boy | C2 |
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Thou art the sick man's nurse the poor man's friend | H |
And through each change of life thou hast been mine | Z |
In every ill thou canst a comfort blend | H |
And bid the eye though sad in sadness shine | Z |
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Thee I have met on Cherwell's willowed side | Q |
And when our destined road far onward lay | Y |
Thee I have found whatever chance betide | Q |
The kind companion of my devious way | Y |
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With thee unwearied have I loved to roam | D2 |
By the smooth flowing Scheldt or rushing Rhine | Z |
And thou hast gladdened my sequestered home | D2 |
And hung my peaceful porch with eglantine | Z |
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When cares and crosses my tired spirits tried | Q |
When to the dust my father I resigned | T |
Amidst the quiet shade unseen I sighed | Q |
And blest with thee forgot a world unkind | T |
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Ev'n now while toiling through the sleepless night | E2 |
A tearful look to distant scenes I cast | F2 |
And the glad objects that once charmed my sight | E2 |
Remember like soft views of faerie past | F2 |
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I see thee come half smiling to my bed | G2 |
With Fortitude more awfully severe | M |
Whose arm sustaining holds my drooping head | G2 |
Who dries with her dark locks the tender tear | M |
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O firmer Spirit on some craggy height | E2 |
Who when the tempest sails aloft dost stand | H2 |
And hear'st the ceaseless billows of the night | E2 |
Rolling upon the solitary strand | H2 |
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At this sad hour when no harsh thoughts intrude | I2 |
To mar the melancholy mind's repose | J2 |
When I am left to night and solitude | I2 |
And languid life seems verging to its close | K2 |
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Oh let me thy pervading influence feel | L2 |
Be every weak and wayward thought repressed | M2 |
And hide thou as with plates of coldest steel | L2 |
The faded aspect and the throbbing breast | M2 |
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Silent the motley pageant may retreat | G |
And vain mortality's brief scenes remove | N2 |
Yet let my bosom whilst with life it beat | G |
Breathe a last prayer for all on earth I love | I |
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Slow creeping pain weighs down my heavy eye | S |
A chiller faintness steals upon my breast | M2 |
O gentle Muse with some sweet lullaby | S |
Rock me in long forgetfulness to rest | M2 |
William Lisle Bowles
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