Dibdin's Ghost Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDED FGFGHC C IFIFJD D KLKLMC C NFNFOD D PAPAQC C RSRSTD D UVUVWC C| Dear wife last midnight whilst I read | A |
| The tomes you so despise | B |
| A spectre rose beside the bed | A |
| And spake in this true wise | B |
| 'From Canaan's beatific coast | C |
| I 've come to visit thee | D |
| For I am Frognall Dibdin's ghost ' | E |
| Says Dibdin's ghost to me | D |
| - | |
| I bade him welcome and we twain | F |
| Discussed with buoyant hearts | G |
| The various things that appertain | F |
| To bibliomaniac arts | G |
| 'Since you are fresh from t' other side | H |
| Pray tell me of that host | C |
| That treasured books before they died ' | - |
| Says I to Dibdin's ghost | C |
| - | |
| 'They 've entered into perfect rest | I |
| For in the life they 've won | F |
| There are no auctions to molest | I |
| No creditors to dun | F |
| Their heavenly rapture has no bounds | J |
| Beside that jasper sea | D |
| It is a joy unknown to Lowndes ' | - |
| Says Dibdin's ghost to me | D |
| - | |
| Much I rejoiced to hear him speak | K |
| Of biblio bliss above | L |
| For I am one of those who seek | K |
| What bibliomaniacs love | L |
| 'But tell me for I long to hear | M |
| What doth concern me most | C |
| Are wives admitted to that sphere ' | - |
| Says I to Dibdin's ghost | C |
| - | |
| 'The women folk are few up there | N |
| For 't were not fair you know | F |
| That they our heavenly joy should share | N |
| Who vex us here below | F |
| The few are those who have been kind | O |
| To husbands such as we | D |
| They knew our fads and did n't mind ' | - |
| Says Dibdin's ghost to me | D |
| - | |
| 'But what of those who scold at us | P |
| When we would read in bed | A |
| Or wanting victuals make a fuss | P |
| If we buy books instead | A |
| And what of those who 've dusted not | Q |
| Our motley pride and boast | C |
| Shall they profane that sacred spot ' | - |
| Says I to Dibdin's ghost | C |
| - | |
| 'Oh no they tread that other path | R |
| Which leads where torments roll | S |
| And worms yes bookworms vent their wrath | R |
| Upon the guilty soul | S |
| Untouched of bibliomaniac grace | T |
| That saveth such as we | D |
| They wallow in that dreadful place ' | - |
| Says Dibdin's ghost to me | D |
| - | |
| 'To my dear wife will I recite | U |
| What things I 've heard you say | V |
| She 'll let me read the books by night | U |
| She 's let me buy by day | V |
| For we together by and by | W |
| Would join that heavenly host | C |
| She 's earned a rest as well as I ' | - |
| Says I to Dibdin's ghost | C |
Eugene Field
(1)
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