Shameful Death Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABAB CDCDCD EFGHEF IJIJIJ KLKLKL KDKDKD KLKLKL MMMM| There were four of us about that bed | A |
| The mass priest knelt at the side | B |
| I and his mother stood at the head | A |
| Over his feet lay the bride | B |
| We were quite sure that he was dead | A |
| Though his eyes were open wide | B |
| - | |
| He did not die in the night | C |
| He did not die in the day | D |
| But in the morning twilight | C |
| His spirit pass'd away | D |
| When neither sun nor moon was bright | C |
| And the trees were merely grey | D |
| - | |
| He was not slain with the sword | E |
| Knight's axe or the knightly spear | F |
| Yet spoke he never a word | G |
| After he came in here | H |
| I cut away the cord | E |
| From the neck of my brother dear | F |
| - | |
| He did not strike one blow | I |
| For the recreants came behind | J |
| In a place where the hornbeams grow | I |
| A path right hard to find | J |
| For the hornbeam boughs swing so | I |
| That the twilight makes it blind | J |
| - | |
| They lighted a great torch then | K |
| When his arms were pinion'd fast | L |
| Sir John the knight of the Fen | K |
| Sir Guy of the Dolorous Blast | L |
| With knights threescore and ten | K |
| Hung brave Lord Hugh at last | L |
| - | |
| I am threescore and ten | K |
| And my hair is all turn'd grey | D |
| But I met Sir John of the Fen | K |
| Long ago on a summer day | D |
| And am glad to think of the moment when | K |
| I took his life away | D |
| - | |
| I am threescore and ten | K |
| And my strength is mostly pass'd | L |
| But long ago I and my men | K |
| When the sky was overcast | L |
| And the smoke roll'd over the reeds of the fen | K |
| Slew Guy of the Dolorous Blast | L |
| - | |
| And now knights all of you | M |
| I pray you pray for Sir Hugh | M |
| A good knight and a true | M |
| And for Alice his wife pray too | M |
William Morris
(1)
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About Shameful Death
Shameful Death is a poem by William Morris. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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Alan Morriss: I love that poem. There is something about it.
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