The Burnt Child Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFG HDFIFJ KBLFMNF| Matches among other things that were not allowed | A |
| never would be | B |
| lying high in a cool blue box | C |
| that opened in other hands and there they all were | D |
| bodies clean and smooth blue heads white crowns | E |
| white sandpaper on the sides of the box scoring | F |
| fire after fire gone before | G |
| - | |
| I could hear the scratch and flare | H |
| when they were over | D |
| and catch the smell of the striking | F |
| I knew what the match would feel like | I |
| lighting | F |
| when I was very young | J |
| - | |
| a fire engine came and parked | K |
| in the shadow of the big poplar tree | B |
| of Fourth Street one night | L |
| keeping its engine running | F |
| pumping oxygen to the old woman | M |
| in the basement | N |
| when she died the red lights went on burning | F |
William Stanley Merwin
(1)
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