Nightmare: A Tale For An Autumn Evening Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BCDECFGHIGJKLJGMKNCG OPJQORSCCCHTUVWXYZA2 GB2UNC2D2E2F2NGJHGHG 2H2I2J2K2L2M2N2GIGHO 2NP2P2E2F2Q2HR2GHP2P 2GGP2P2S2G2GP2P2HP2P 2GGR2T2E2U2CCGV2P2P2 W2GCNHHJGQGX2P2Y2NZ2 GP2CP2GNP2Y2P2GP2P2P 2A3GGT2JGNP2P2P2P2GB 3GJC2NC3P2ND3NY2NNX2 J2NP2GCR2

After a Print by George CruikshankA
-
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It was a gusty nightB
With the wind booming and swoopingC
Looping round cornersD
Sliding over the cobble stonesE
Whipping and veeringC
And careering over the roofsF
Like a thousand clattering horsesG
Mr Spruggins had been dining in the cityH
Mr Spruggins was none too steady in his gaitI
And the wind played ball with Mr SprugginsG
And laughed as it whistled past himJ
It rolled him along the streetK
With his little feet pit a patting on the flags of the sidewalkL
And his muffler and his coat tails blown straight out behind himJ
It bumped him against area railingsG
And chuckled in his ear when he said OuchM
Sometimes it lifted him clear off his little patting feetK
And bore him in triumph over three grey flagstones and a quarterN
The moon dodged in and out of clouds winkingC
It was all very unpleasant for Mr SprugginsG
And when the wind flung him hard against his own front doorO
It was a reliefP
Although the breath was quite knocked out of himJ
The gas lamp in front of the house flared upQ
And the keyhole was as big as a barn doorO
The gas lamp flickered away to a sputtering blue starR
And the keyhole went out with itS
Such a stabbing and jabbingC
And sticking and pickingC
And poking and pushing and pryingC
With that keyH
And there is no denying that Mr Spruggins rapped out an oath or twoT
Rub a dub dubbing them out to a real snare drum rollU
But the door opened at lastV
And Mr Spruggins blew through it into his own hallW
And slammed the door to so hardX
That the knocker banged five times before it stoppedY
Mr Spruggins struck a light and lit a candleZ
And all the time the moon winked at him through the windowA2
Why couldn't you find the keyhole SprugginsG
Taunted the windB2
I can find the keyholeU
And the wind thin as a wireN
Darted in and seized the candle flameC2
And knocked it over to one sideD2
And pummelled it down down downE2
But Mr Spruggins held the candle so close that it singed his chinF2
And ran and stumbled up the stairs in a surprisingly agile mannerN
For the wind through the keyhole kept saying Spruggins SprugginsG
behind himJ
The fire in his bedroom burned brightlyH
The room with its crimson bed and window curtainsG
Was as red and glowing as a carbuncleH
It was still and warmG2
There was no wind here for the windows were fastenedH2
And no moonI2
For the curtains were drawnJ2
The candle flame stood up like a pointed pearK2
In a wide brass dishL2
Mr Spruggins sighed with contentM2
He was safe at homeN2
The fire glowed red and yellow rosesG
In the black basket of the grateI
And the bed with its crimson hangingsG
Seemed a great peonyH
Wide open and placidO2
Mr Spruggins slipped off his top coat and his mufflerN
He slipped off his bottle green coatP2
And his flowered waistcoatP2
He put on a flannel dressing gownE2
And tied a peaked night cap under his chinF2
He wound his large gold watchQ2
And placed it under his pillowH
Then he tiptoed over to the window and pulled back the curtainR2
There was the moon dodging in and out of the cloudsG
But behind him was his quiet candleH
There was the wind whisking along the streetP2
The window rattled but it was fastenedP2
Did the wind say SprugginsG
All Mr Spruggins heard was S s s s sG
Dying away down the streetP2
He dropped the curtain and got into bedP2
Martha had been in the last thing with the warming panS2
The bed was warmG2
And Mr Spruggins sank into feathersG
With the familiar ticking of his watch just under his headP2
Mr Spruggins dozedP2
He had forgotten to put out the candleH
But it did not make much difference as the fire was so brightP2
Too brightP2
The red and yellow roses pricked his eyelidsG
They scorched him back to consciousnessG
He tried to shift his positionR2
He could not moveT2
Something weighed him downE2
He could not breatheU2
He was gaspingC
Pinned down and suffocatingC
He opened his eyesG
The curtains of the window were flung backV2
The fire and the candle were outP2
And the room was filled with green moonlightP2
And pressed against the window paneW2
Was a wide round faceG
Winking winkingC
Solemnly dropping one eyelid after the otherN
Tick tock went the watch under his pillowH
Wink wink went the face at the windowH
It was not the fire roses which had pricked himJ
It was the winking eyesG
Mr Spruggins tried to bounce upQ
He could not becauseG
His heart flapped up into his mouthX2
And fell back deadP2
On his chest was a fat pink pigY2
On the pig a blackamoorN
With a ten pound weight for a capZ2
His mustachios kept curling up and down like angry snakesG
And his eyes rolled round and roundP2
With the pupils coming into sight and disappearingC
And appearing again on the other sideP2
The holsters at his saddle bow were two port bottlesG
And a curved table knife hung at his belt for a scimitarN
While a fork and a keg of spirits were strapped to the saddle behindP2
He dug his spurs into the pigY2
Which trampled and snortedP2
And stamped its cloven feet deeper into Mr SprugginsG
Then the green light on the floor began to undulateP2
It heaved and hollowedP2
It rose like a tideP2
Sea greenA3
Full of claws and scalesG
And wrigglesG
The air above his bed began to moveT2
It weighed over himJ
In a mass of draggled feathersG
Not one lifted to stir the airN
They drooped and drippedP2
With a smell of port wine and brandyP2
Closing down slowlyP2
Trickling drops on the bed quiltP2
Suddenly the window fell in with a great scatter of glassG
And the moon burst into the roomB3
Sizzling S s s s s Spruggins SprugginsG
It rolled toward himJ
A green ball of flameC2
With two eyes in the centerN
A red eye and a yellow eyeC3
Dropping their lids slowlyP2
One after the otherN
Mr Spruggins tried to screamD3
But the blackamoorN
Leapt off his pigY2
With a cryN
Drew his scimitarN
And plunged it into Mr Spruggins's mouthX2
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Mr Spruggins got up in the cold dawnJ2
And remade the fireN
Then he crept back to bedP2
By the light which seeped in under the window curtainsG
And lay there shiveringC
While the bells of St George the Martyr chimed the quarter after sevenR2

Amy Lowell



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