The Signboard Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABAACDC AEBEDFCF ABABGHBH BIAIBJAJ ABABKBAB AALAAMBM| I will paint you a sign rumseller | A |
| And hang it above your door | A |
| A truer and better signboard | B |
| Than ever you had before | A |
| I will paint with the skill of a master | A |
| And many shall pause to see | C |
| This wonderful piece of painting | D |
| So like the reality | C |
| - | |
| I will paint yourself rumseller | A |
| As you wait for that fair young boy | E |
| Just in the morning of manhood | B |
| A mother s pride and joy | E |
| He has no thought of stopping | D |
| But you greet him with a smile | F |
| And you seem so blithe and friendly | C |
| That he pauses a chat awhile | F |
| - | |
| I will paint you again rumseller | A |
| I will paint you as you stand | B |
| With a foaming glass of liquor | A |
| Extended in your hand | B |
| He wavers but you urge him | G |
| Drink pledge me just this one | H |
| And he takes the glass and drains it | B |
| And the hellish work is done | H |
| - | |
| And next I will paint a drunkard | B |
| Only a year has flown | I |
| But into that loathesome creature | A |
| The fair young boy has grown | I |
| The work was sure and rapid | B |
| I will paint him as he lies | J |
| In a torpid drunken slumber | A |
| Under the wintry skies | J |
| - | |
| I will paint the form of the mother | A |
| As she kneels at her darling s side | B |
| Her beautiful boy that was dearer | A |
| Than all the world beside | B |
| I will paint the shape of a coffin | K |
| Labelled with one word Lost | B |
| I will paint all this rumseller | A |
| And will paint it free of cost | B |
| - | |
| The sin and the shame and the sorrow | A |
| The crime and the want and the woe | A |
| That are born there in your workshop | L |
| No hand can paint you know | A |
| But I ll paint you a sign rumseller | A |
| And many shall pause to view | M |
| This wonderful swinging signboard | B |
| So terribly fearfully true | M |
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About The Signboard
The Signboard is a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
Write your comment about The Signboard poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Best Poems of Ella Wheeler Wilcox