The Stoddards Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCC DDEEFF GGHHDD GGIIJK EELLMM NNFFOO PPHHQQ IIRRSS TTUUTT VVTTWW TTXXYY| When I am in New York I like to drop around at night | A |
| To visit with my honest genial friends the Stoddards hight | A |
| Their home in Fifteenth street is all so snug and furnished so | B |
| That when I once get planted there I don't know when to go | B |
| A cosy cheerful refuge for the weary homesick guest | C |
| Combining Yankee comforts with the freedom of the west | C |
| - | |
| The first thing you discover as you maunder through the hall | D |
| Is a curious little clock upon a bracket on the wall | D |
| 'T was made by Stoddard's father and it's very very old | E |
| The connoisseurs assure me it is worth its weight in gold | E |
| And I who've bought all kinds of clocks 'twixt Denver and the Rhine | F |
| Cast envious eyes upon that clock and wish that it were mine | F |
| - | |
| But in the parlor Oh the gems on tables walls and floor | G |
| Rare first editions etchings and old crockery galore | G |
| Why talk about the Indies and the wealth of Orient things | H |
| They couldn't hold a candle to these quaint and sumptuous things | H |
| In such profusion too Ah me how dearly I recall | D |
| How I have sat and watched 'em and wished I had 'em all | D |
| - | |
| Now Mr Stoddard's study is on the second floor | G |
| A wee blind dog barks at me as I enter through the door | G |
| The Cerberus would fain begrudge what sights it cannot see | I |
| The rapture of that visual feast it cannot share with me | I |
| A miniature edition this this most absurd of hounds | J |
| A genuine unique I'm sure and one unknown to Lowndes | K |
| - | |
| Books always books are piled around some musty and all old | E |
| Tall solemn folios such as Lamb declared he loved to hold | E |
| Large paper copies with their virgin margins white and wide | L |
| And presentation volumes with the author's comps inside | L |
| I break the tenth commandment with a wild impassioned cry | M |
| Oh how came Stoddard by these things Why Stoddard and not I | M |
| - | |
| From yonder wall looks Thackeray upon his poet friend | N |
| And underneath the genial face appear the lines he penned | N |
| And here gadzooks ben honge ye prynte of marvaillous renowne | F |
| Yt shameth Chaucers gallaunt knyghtes in Canterbury towne | F |
| And still more books and pictures I'm dazed bewildered vexed | O |
| Since I've broke the tenth commandment why not break the eighth one next | O |
| - | |
| And furthermore in confidence inviolate be it said | P |
| Friend Stoddard owns a lock of hair that grew on Milton's head | P |
| Now I have Gladstone axes and a lot of curious things | H |
| Such as pimply Dresden teacups and old German wedding rings | H |
| But nothing like that saintly lock have I on wall or shelf | Q |
| And being somewhat short of hair I should like that lock myself | Q |
| - | |
| But Stoddard has a soothing way as though he grieved to see | I |
| Invidious torments prey upon a nice young chap like me | I |
| He waves me to an easy chair and hands me out a weed | R |
| And pumps me full of that advice he seems to know I need | R |
| So sweet the tap of his philosophy and knowledge flows | S |
| That I can't help wishing that I knew a half what Stoddard knows | S |
| - | |
| And so we sit for hours and hours praising without restraint | T |
| The people who are thoroughbreds and roasting the ones that ain't | T |
| Happy thrice happy is the man we happen to admire | U |
| But wretched oh how wretched he that hath provoked our ire | U |
| For I speak emphatic English when I once get fairly r'iled | T |
| And Stoddard's wrath's an Ossa upon a Pelion piled | T |
| - | |
| Out yonder in the alcove a lady sits and darns | V |
| And interjects remarks that always serve to spice our yarns | V |
| She's Mrs Stoddard there's a dame that's truly to my heart | T |
| A tiny little woman but so quaint and good and smart | T |
| That if you asked me to suggest which one I should prefer | W |
| Of all the Stoddard treasures I should promptly mention her | W |
| - | |
| O dear old man how I should like to be with you this night | T |
| Down in your home in Fifteenth street where all is snug and bright | T |
| Where the shaggy little Cerberus dreams in its cushioned place | X |
| And the books and pictures all around smile in their old friend's face | X |
| Where the dainty little sweetheart whom you still were proud to woo | Y |
| Charms back the tender memories so dear to her and you | Y |
Eugene Field
(1)
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