Peter Bell - A Tale (part First) Poem Rhyme Scheme

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William Wordsworth

Peter Bell - A Tale (part First) Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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PART FIRST	A
	-
ALL by the moonlight river side	B
Groaned the poor Beast alas in vain	C
The staff was raised to loftier height	D
And the blows fell with heavier weight	E
As Peter struck and struck again	F
	-
Hold cried the Squire against the rules	G
Of common sense you're surely sinning	H
This leap is for us all too bold	I
Who Peter was let that be told	I
And start from the beginning	H
	-
A Potter Sir he was by trade	J
Said I becoming quite collected	K
And wheresoever he appeared	L
Full twenty times was Peter feared	L
For once that Peter was respected	M
	-
He two and thirty years or more	N
Had been a wild and woodland rover	O
Had heard the Atlantic surges roar	N
On farthest Cornwall's rocky shore	N
And trod the cliffs of Dover	O
	-
And he had seen Caernarvon's towers	P
And well he knew the spire of Sarum	Q
And he had been where Lincoln bell	R
Flings o'er the fen that ponderous knell	R
A far renowned alarum	Q
	-
At Doncaster at York and Leeds	S
And merry Carlisle had be been	T
And all along the Lowlands fair	U
All through the bonny shire of Ayr	V
And far as Aberdeen	W
	-
And he had been at Inverness	X
And Peter by the mountain rills	X
Had danced his round with Highland lasses	X
And he had lain beside his asses	X
On lofty Cheviot Hills	X
	-
And he had trudged through Yorkshire dales	X
Among the rocks and winding 'scars'	X
Where deep and low the hamlets lie	Y
Beneath their little patch of sky	Y
And little lot of stars	X
	-
And all along the indented coast	Z
Bespattered with the salt sea foam	Q
Where'er a knot of houses lay	A2
On headland or in hollow bay	A2
Sure never man like him did roam	Q
	-
As well might Peter in the Fleet	B2
Have been fast bound a begging debtor	O
He travelled here he travelled there	U
But not the value of a hair	U
Was heart or head the better	O
	-
He roved among the vales and streams	X
In the green wood and hollow dell	R
They were his dwellings night and day	A2
But nature ne'er could find the way	A2
Into the heart of Peter Bell	R
	-
In vain through every changeful year	C2
Did Nature lead him as before	N
A primrose by a river's brim	Q
A yellow primrose was to him	Q
And it was nothing more	N
	-
Small change it made on Peter's heart	D2
To see his gentle panniered train	C
With more than vernal pleasure feeding	H
Where'er the tender grass was leading	H
Its earliest green along the lane	C
	-
In vain through water earth and air	U
The soul of happy sound was spread	E2
When Peter on some April morn	F2
Beneath the broom or budding thorn	F2
Made the warm earth his lazy bed	E2
	-
At noon when by the forest's edge	G2
He lay beneath the branches high	Y
The soft blue shy did never melt	H2
Into his heart he never felt	H2
The witchery of the soft blue sky	Y
	-
On a fair prospect some have looked	I2
And felt as I have heard them say	A2
As if the moving time had been	T
A thing as steadfast as the scene	W
On which they gazed themselves away	A2
	-
Within the breast of Peter Bell	R
These silent raptures found no place	X
He was a Carl as wild and rude	J2
As ever hue and cry pursued	J2
As ever ran a felon's race	X
	-
Of all that lead a lawless life	K2
Of all that love their lawless lives	X
In city or in village small	L2
He was the wildest far of all	L2
He had a dozen wedded wives	X
	-
Nay start not wedded wives and twelve	M2
But how one wife could e'er come near him	Q
In simple truth I cannot tell	R
For be it said of Peter Bell	R
To see him was to fear him	Q
	-
Though Nature could not touch his heart	D2
By lovely forms and silent weather	O
And tender sounds yet you might see	X
At once that Peter Bell and she	X
Had often been together	O
	-
A savage wildness round him hung	N2
As of a dweller out of doors	X
In his whole figure and his mien	W
A savage character was seen	W
Of mountains and of dreary moors	X
	-
To all the unshaped half human thoughts	X
Which solitary Nature feeds	X
'Mid summer storms or winter's ice	X
Had Peter joined whatever vice	X
The cruel city breeds	X
	-
His face was keen as is the wind	O2
That cuts along the hawthorn fence	X
Of courage you saw little there	U
But in its stead a medley air	U
Of cunning and of impudence	X
	-
He had a dark and sidelong walk	P2
And long and slouching was his gait	E
Beneath his looks so bare and bold	I
You might perceive his spirit cold	I
Was playing with some inward bait	E
	-
His forehead wrinkled was and furred	E
A work one half of which was done	Q2
By thinking of his 'whens' and 'hows '	-
And half by knitting of his brows	X
Beneath the glaring sun	Q2
	-
There was a hardness in his cheek	R2
There was a hardness in his eye	Y
As if the man had fixed his face	X
In many a solitary place	X
Against the wind and open sky	Y
	-
ONE NIGHT and now my little Bess	X
We've reached at last the promised Tale	S2
One beautiful November night	E
When the full moon was shining bright	E
Upon the rapid river Swale	S2
	-
Along the river's winding banks	X
Peter was travelling all alone	T2
Whether to buy or sell or led	E
By pleasure running in his head	E
To me was never known	T2
	-
He trudged along through copse and brake	U2
He trudged along o'er hill and dale	S2
Nor for the moon cared he a tittle	S2
And for the stars he cared as little	S2
And for the murmuring river Swale	S2
	-
But chancing to espy a path	V2
That promised to cut short the way	A2
As many a wiser man hath done	Q2
He left a trusty guide for one	Q2
That might his steps betray	A2
	-
To a thick wood he soon is brought	E
Where cheerily his course he weaves	X
And whistling loud may yet be heard	E
Though often buried like a bird	E
Darkling among the boughs and leaves	X
	-
But quickly Peter's mood is changed	E
And on he drives with cheeks that burn	W2
In downright fury and in wrath	V2
There's little sign the treacherous path	V2
Will to the road return	W2
	-
The path grows dim and dimmer still	S2
Now up now down the Rover wends	X
With all the sail that he can carry	X
Till brought to a deserted quarry	X
And there the pathway ends	X
	-
He paused for shadows of strange shape	X2
Massy and black before him lay	A2
But through the dark and through the cold	E
And through the yawning fissures old	E
Did Peter boldly press his way	A2
	-
Right through the quarry and behold	E
A scene of soft and lovely hue	Y2
Where blue and grey and tender green	W
Together make as sweet a scene	W
As ever human eye did view	Y2
	-
Beneath the clear blue sky he saw	X
A little field of meadow ground	E
But field or meadow name it not	E
Call it of earth a small green plot	E
With rocks encompassed round	E
	-
The Swale flowed under the grey rocks	X
But he flowed quiet and unseen	W
You need a strong and stormy gale	S2
To bring the noises of the Swale	S2
To that green spot so calm and green	W
	-
And is there no one dwelling here	Z2
No hermit with his beads and glass	X
And does no little cottage look	A3
Upon this soft and fertile nook	A3
Does no one live near this green grass	X
	-
Across the deep and quiet spot	E
Is Peter driving through the grass	X
And now has reached the skirting trees	X
When turning round his head he sees	X
A solitary Ass	X
	-
A Prize cries Peter but he first	E
Must spy about him far and near	C2
There's not a single house in sight	E
No woodman's hut no cottage light	E
Peter you need not fear	C2
	-
There's nothing to be seen but woods	X
And rocks that spread a hoary gleam	Q
And this one Beast that from the bed	E
Of the green meadow hangs his head	E
Over the silent stream	Q
	-
His head is with a halter bound	E
The halter seizing Peter leapt	E
Upon the Creature's back and plied	E
With ready heels his shaggy side	E
But still the Ass his station kept	E
	-
Then Peter gave a sudden jerk	B3
A jerk that from a dungeon floor	N
Would have pulled up an iron ring	H
But still the heavy headed Thing	H
Stood just as he had stood before	N
	-
Quoth Peter leaping from his seat	E
There is some plot against me laid	E
Once more the little meadow ground	E
And all the hoary cliffs around	E
He cautiously surveyed	E
	-
All all is silent rocks and woods	X
All still and silent far and near	C2
Only the Ass with motion dull	S2
Upon the pivot of his skull	S2
Turns round his long left ear	Z2
	-
Thought Peter What can mean all this	X
Some ugly witchcraft must be here	Z2
Once more the Ass with motion dull	S2
Upon the pivot of his skull	S2
Turned round his long left ear	Z2
	-
Suspicion ripened into dread	E
Yet with deliberate action slow	S2
His staff high raising in the pride	E
Of skill upon the sounding hide	E
He dealt a sturdy blow	S2
	-
The poor Ass staggered with the shock	C3
And then as if to take his ease	X
In quiet uncomplaining mood	E
Upon the spot where he had stood	E
Dropped gently down upon his knees	X
	-
As gently on his side he fell	S2
And by the river's brink did lie	S2
And while he lay like one that mourned	E
The patient Beast on Peter turned	E
His shining hazel eye	S2
	-
'Twas but one mild reproachful look	A3
A look more tender than severe	C2
And straight in sorrow not in dread	E
He turned the eye ball in his head	E
Towards the smooth river deep and clear	C2
	-
Upon the Beast the sapling rings	X
His lank sides heaved his limbs they stirred	E
He gave a groan and then another	O
Of that which went before the brother	O
And then he gave a third	E
	-
All by the moonlight river side	E
He gave three miserable groans	X
And not till now hath Peter seen	W
How gaunt the Creature is how lean	W
And sharp his staring bones	X
	-
With legs stretched out and stiff he lay	S2
No word of kind commiseration	W
Fell at the sight from Peter's tongue	N2
With hard contempt his heart was wrung	N2
With hatred and vexation	W
	-
The meagre beast lay still as death	D3
And Peter's lips with fury quiver	O
Quoth he You little mulish dog	E3
I'll fling your carcase like a log	E3
Head foremost down the river	O
	-
An impious oath confirmed the threat	E
Whereat from the earth on which he lay	S2
To all the echoes south and north	F3
And east and west the Ass sent forth	F3
A long and clamorous bray	S2
	-
This outcry on the heart of Peter	O
Seems like a note of joy to strike	G3
Joy at the heart of Peter knocks	X
But in the echo of the rocks	X
Was something Peter did not like	G3
	-
Whether to cheer his coward breast	E
Or that he could not break the chain	W
In this serene and solemn hour	O
Twined round him by demoniac power	O
To the blind work he turned again	W
	-
Among the rocks and winding crags	X
Among the mountains far away	S2
Once more the ass did lengthen out	E
More ruefully a deep drawn shout	E
The hard dry see saw of his horrible bray	S2
	-
What is there now in Peter's heart	E
Or whence the might of this strange sound	E
The moon uneasy looked and dimmer	O
The broad blue heavens appeared to glimmer	O
And the rocks staggered all around	E
	-
From Peter's hand the sapling dropped	E
Threat has he none to execute	E
If any one should come and see	X
That I am here they'll think quoth he	X
I'm helping this poor dying brute	E
	-
He scans the Ass from limb to limb	Q
And ventures now to uplift his eyes	X
More steady looks the moon and clear	C2
More like themselves the rocks appear	C2
And touch more quiet skies	X
	-
His scorn returns his hate revives	X
He stoops the Ass's neck to seize	X
With malice that again takes flight	E
For in the pool a startling sight	E
Meets him among the inverted trees	X
	-
Is it the moon's distorted face	X
The ghost like image of a cloud	E
Is it a gallows there portrayed	E
Is Peter of himself afraid	E
Is it a coffin or a shroud	E
	-
A grisly idol hewn in stone	W
Or imp from witch's lap let fall	S2
Perhaps a ring of shining fairies	X
Such as pursue their feared vagaries	X
In sylvan bower or haunted hall	S2
	-
Is it a fiend that to a stake	U2
Of fire his desperate self is tethering	U2
Or stubborn spirit doomed to yell	S2
In solitary ward or cell	S2
Ten thousand miles from all his brethren	W
	-
Never did pulse so quickly throb	H3
And never heart so loudly panted	E
He looks he cannot choose but look	U2
Like some one reading in a book	U2
A book that is enchanted	E
	-
Ah well a day for Peter Bell	S2
He will be turned to iron soon	W
Meet Statue for the court of Fear	C2
His hat is up and every hair	U
Bristles and whitens in the moon	W
	-
He looks he ponders looks again	W
He sees a motion hears a groan	W
His eyes will burst his heart will break	U2
He gives a loud and frightful shriek	U2
And back he falls as if his life were flown	W