Out O' The Fire Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCC DDEE FFGG HHII JJK LLMM NNOO PPAA QQRR CCSS TTUU VVEE CCWX YYII ZZA2B2 C2C2D2D2 NNE2E2 LLOO F2F2G2G2 YYII OOH2H2 I2I2J2K2 EEL2L2 IAs Told in | A |
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Year of ' children middle of the fall | B |
On one fearful night children we well nigh lost our all | B |
True it wa'n't no great sum we had to lose that night | C |
But when a little's all you've got it comes to a blessed sight | C |
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I was a mighty worker in them 'ere difficult days | D |
For work is a good investment and almost always pays | D |
But when ten years' hard labor went smokin' into the air | E |
I doubted all o' the maxims an' felt that it wasn't fair | E |
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Up from the East we had traveled with all of our household wares | F |
Where we had long been workin' a piece of land on shares | F |
But how a fellow's to prosper without the rise of the land | G |
For just two thirds of nothin' I never could understand | G |
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Up from the East we had traveled me and my folks alone | H |
And quick we went to workin' a piece of land of our own | H |
Small was our backwoods quarters and things looked mighty cheap | I |
But every thing we put in there we put in there to keep | I |
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So with workin' and savin' we managed to get along | J |
Managed to make a livin' and feel consid'able strong | J |
And things went smooth and happy an' fair as the average run | K |
Till every thing went back on me in the fall of ' | - |
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First thing bothered and worried me was 'long o' my daughter Kate | L |
Rather a han'some cre'tur' and folks all liked her gait | L |
Not so nice as them sham ones in yeller covered books | M |
But still there wa'n't much discount on Katherine's ways an' looks | M |
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And Katherine's smile was pleasant and Katherine's temper good | N |
And how she come to like Tom Smith I never understood | N |
For she was a mornin' glory as fair as you ever see | O |
And Tom was a shag bark hickory as green as green could be | O |
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Like takes to like is a proverb that's nothin' more than trash | P |
And many a time I've seen it all pulverized to smash | P |
For folks in no way sim'lar I've noticed ag'in and ag'in | A |
Will often take to each other and stick together like sin | A |
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Next thing bothered and worried me was 'long of a terrible drouth | Q |
And me an' all o' my neighbors was some'at down in the mouth | Q |
And week after week the rain held off and things all pined an' dried | R |
And we drove the cattle miles to drink and many of 'em died | R |
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And day after day went by us so han'some and so bright | C |
And never a drop of water came near us day or night | C |
And what with the neighbors' grumblin' and what with my daily loss | S |
I must own that somehow or other I was gettin' mighty cross | S |
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And on one Sunday evenin' I was comin' down the lane | T |
From meetin' where our preacher had stuck and hung for rain | T |
And various slants on heaven kept workin' in my mind | U |
And the smoke from Sanders' fallow was makin' me almost blind | U |
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I opened the door kind o' sudden an' there my Katherine sat | V |
As cozy as any kitten along with a friendly cat | V |
An' Tom was dreadful near her his arm on the back of her chair | E |
And lookin' as happy and cheerful as if there was rain to spare | E |
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Get out of this house in a minute I cried with all my might | C |
Get out while I'm a talkin' Tom's eyes showed a bit of fight | C |
But he rose up stiff and surly and made me a civil bow | W |
And mogged along to the door way with never a word of row | X |
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And I snapped up my wife quite surly when she asked me what I'd said | Y |
And I scolded Kate for cryin' and sent her up stairs to bed | Y |
And then I laid down for the purpose of gettin' a little sleep | I |
An' the wind outside was a howlin' and puttin' it in to keep | I |
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'Twas half past three next mornin' or maybe 'twas nearer four | Z |
The neighbors they came a yellin' and poundin' at my door | Z |
Get up get up they shouted get up there's danger near | A2 |
The woods are all a burnin' the wind is blowin' it here | B2 |
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If ever it happens children that you get catched some time | C2 |
With fire a blowin' toward you as fast as fire can climb | C2 |
You'll get up and get in a hurry as fast as you can budge | D2 |
It's a lively season of the year or else I ain't no judge | D2 |
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Out o' the dear old cabin we tumbled fast as we could | N |
Smashed two thirds of our dishes and saved some four foot wood | N |
With smoke a settlin' round us and gettin' into our eyes | E2 |
And fire a roarin' an' roarin' an' drowndin' all of our cries | E2 |
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And just as the roof was smokin' and we hadn't long to wait | L |
I says to my wife Now get out and hustle you and Kate | L |
And just as the roof was fallin' my wife she come to me | O |
With a face as white as a corpse's face and Where is Kate says she | O |
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And the neighbors come runnin' to me with faces black as the ground | F2 |
And shouted Where is Katherine She's nowhere to be found | F2 |
An' this is all I remember till I found myself next day | G2 |
A lyin' in Sanders' cabin a mile an' a half away | G2 |
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If ever you wake up children with somethin' into your head | Y |
Concernin' a han'some daughter that's lyin' still an' dead | Y |
All scorched into coal black cinders perhaps you may not weep | I |
But I rather think it'll happen you'll wish you'd a kept asleep | I |
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And all I could say was Kath'rine oh Kath'rine come to me | O |
And all I could think was Kath'rine and all that I could see | O |
Was Sanders a standin' near to me his finger into his eye | H2 |
And my wife a bendin' over me and tellin' me not to cry | H2 |
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When lo Tom Smith he entered his face lit up with grins | I2 |
And Kate a hangin' on his arm as neat as a row of pins | I2 |
And Tom looked glad but sheepish and said Excuse me Squire | J2 |
But I 'loped with Kate and married her an hour before the fire | K2 |
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Well children I was shattered 'twas more than I could bear | E |
And I up and went for Kate an' Tom and hugged 'em then and there | E |
And since that time the times have changed an' now they ain't so bad | L2 |
And Katherine she's your mother now and Thomas Smith's your dad | L2 |
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nbsp | I |
William Mckendree Carleton
(1)
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