She slept, but in a troubled night
She’d toss within her dreams:
For cruelest nightmares rose with might
And ever hellish themes-
A goblin rose from blackest bri'r
Who'd cruelest lies invent,
It mocking hoped it might aspire
To rob her righteous bent.
Then gnashing out with wicked slurs
And accusations grim,
It dragged her through the darkest firs
Where darkness grew more dim.
Then lo! there came a Lunar Light
And starry host a-flame,
Then Judgment put the imp to flight-
Who hobbing felt ashamed.
Envoi
Now placid dreams alas have come
For fled's the dreaded goblin's drum
Whose wicked accusations teemed
And made a peaceful heart feel numb-
The girl whom lunar lights redeemed.
Of the Poem (Parameters):
Stanza: Four quatrains and an envoi of five line
Meter: Alternating tetrameter and trimeter with the first four quatrains; tetrameter with envoi
Rhyme Scheme: a.b.a.b. with first four stanzas; a.a.b.a.b with last stanza
Note: line 14 and 16 are not direct rhymes (i.e. a-flame and ashamed), but rather oblique or slanted; and bri'r, of line 5, is the word brier (meant to be pronounced as a single syllable, similar to fire)
Stanza: Four quatrains and an envoi of five line
Meter: Alternating tetrameter and trimeter with the first four quatrains; tetrameter with envoi
Rhyme Scheme: a.b.a.b. with first four stanzas; a.a.b.a.b with last stanza
Note: line 14 and 16 are not direct rhymes (i.e. a-flame and ashamed), but rather oblique or slanted; and bri'r, of line 5, is the word brier (meant to be pronounced as a single syllable, similar to fire)
1 comment:
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The picture of this post is from an oil painting done by Henry Fuseli, a Swiss painter. He calls it, The Nightmare.
The poem was a work I began prior to my desire to use the picture here.
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