The Alley Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKALMLNOPQ RSSMTMUTVW XYZA2B2ZC2D2YA2B2E2F 2G2H2I2ZJ2K2L2M2M2M2 L2 YN2J2O2J2J2P2Q2R2Q2 TYQ2S2UJ2K2UT2 MU2MJ2V2Q2J2P2 KJ2UMJ2W2Q2J2X2J2Y2J 2TJ2Z2J2J2A3W U2J2J2B3J2B3J2QC3CD3 MQ2J2J2J2J2HJ2J2J2J2 GE3A3F3W2 J2J2J2CJ2G3MQ2I2BJ2B P2I2H3MI3I2 J2J3W2J2MWL2W2JQ2MBecause you are four years old | A |
the candle is all dressed up in a new frill | B |
And stars nod to you through the hole in the curtain | C |
except the big stiff planets | D |
too fat to move about much | E |
and you curtsey back to the stars | F |
when no one is looking | G |
You feel sorry for the poor wooden chair | H |
that knows it isn't nice to sit on | I |
and no one is sad but mama | J |
You don't like mama to be sad | K |
when you are four years old | A |
so you pretend | L |
you like the bitter gold pale tea | M |
you pretend | L |
if you don't drink it up pretty quick | N |
a little gold fish | O |
will think it is a pond | P |
and come and get born in it | Q |
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It's hot in our street | R |
and the breeze is a dirty little broom | S |
that sweeps dust into our room | S |
and bits of paper out of the alley | M |
You are not let to play | T |
with the children in the alley | M |
But you must be very polite | U |
so you pass them and say good day | T |
and when they fling banana skins | V |
you fling them back again | W |
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There is no one to play with | X |
and the flies on the window | Y |
buzz and buzz | Z |
you can pull out their legs | A2 |
and stick pins in their bodies | B2 |
but still they buzz | Z |
and mama says | C2 |
When Nero was a little boy | D2 |
he caught flies on his mama's window | Y |
and pulled out their legs | A2 |
and stuck pins in their bodies | B2 |
and nobody loved him | E2 |
Buzz blue bellied flies | F2 |
buzz nasty black wheel | G2 |
of mama's machine | H2 |
you are the biggest fly of all | I2 |
you have the loudest buzz | Z |
I hear you at dawn before the locusts | J2 |
But I like the picture of the Flood | K2 |
and the little babies getting drowned | L2 |
If I were there I would save them | M2 |
but as I can't save them | M2 |
I like to watch them | M2 |
getting drowned | L2 |
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When mama buys of Ling Ho | Y |
he smiles very wide | N2 |
and picks her the largest loquots | J2 |
The greens man gave her a cabbage | O2 |
and she held it against her black bodice | J2 |
and said what a beautiful green it was | J2 |
and put it on the table | P2 |
as though it had been a flower | Q2 |
But next day we boiled and ate it with salt | R2 |
It was our dinner | Q2 |
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Christmas day | T |
I found Janie on my pillow | Y |
Janie is made of rubber | Q2 |
Her red and blue jacket won't come off | S2 |
Christmas dinner was green and white | U |
chicken and lettuce and peas | J2 |
and drops of oil on the salad | K2 |
smiley and full of light | U |
like the gold on the lady's teeth | T2 |
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But mama said politely | M |
Thank you we are dining out | U2 |
She wouldn't let you take one pea | M |
to put in the hole where the whistle was | J2 |
at the back of Janie's head | V2 |
so Janie should have some dinner | Q2 |
So you went to the park with biscuits | J2 |
and black tea in a bottle | P2 |
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You feel very sad | K |
when you climb on the fence | J2 |
to watch mama out of sight | U |
The women in the alley | M |
poke their heads out of doorways | J2 |
and watch her too | W2 |
You know her | Q2 |
by the way she holds her shoulders | J2 |
till she is only a speck | X2 |
in a chain of specks | J2 |
till she is swallowed up | Y2 |
But suppose | J2 |
that day after day | T |
you were to watch for her face | J2 |
and it didn't come back | Z2 |
Suppose | J2 |
it were to drop out of the string of white faces | J2 |
like the pearl out of my chain | A3 |
I never found again | W |
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Mabel minds you while mama is out | U2 |
she washes while she sings | J2 |
Three blind mice | J2 |
they all run away from the farmer's wife | B3 |
who cut off their tails | J2 |
with a carving knife | B3 |
Wind blows out Mabel's sheets | J2 |
way you blow in a bag before you burst it | Q |
Wind has a soapy smell | C3 |
It's heavier'n sun | C |
that lies all over you without any weight | D3 |
and makes you feel happy | M |
and crinkly like bubbling water | Q2 |
There's no sun on the empty house | J2 |
sly looking house | J2 |
you can't see in its windows | J2 |
that watch you out of their corners | J2 |
Perhaps there's a big spider there | H |
spinning gray threads over the windows | J2 |
till they look like dead people's faces | J2 |
Jimmie says | J2 |
Jimmie's hair is white as a white mouse | J2 |
His lashes are gold as mama's wedding ring | G |
and his mouth feels cool and smooth | E3 |
like a flower wet with rain | A3 |
You wouldn't believe Jimmie was different | F3 |
till he showed you | W2 |
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Blind wet sheets | J2 |
flapping on the lines | J2 |
sun in your eyes | J2 |
dark gold sun | C |
full of little black spots | J2 |
you have to blink and blink | G3 |
round eyes of Jimmie | M |
Jimmie's blue jumper | Q2 |
blue shadow of wall | I2 |
all the world holding still | B |
as when a clock stops | J2 |
streets still people still | B |
no streets no people | P2 |
only sky and wall | I2 |
sun glaring bright as God | H3 |
down at you and Jimmie | M |
shadow like a purple cloth | I3 |
trailing off the wall | I2 |
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Wild wet sheets | J2 |
flapping in the wind | J3 |
big slippered feet flapping too | W2 |
big balloon face | J2 |
rushing up the alley | M |
houses closing up again | W |
windows looking round | L2 |
Mabel pulls you in the gate and shakes you | W2 |
and tells you not to tell your mama | J |
And you wonder | Q2 |
if God has spoiled Jimmie | M |
Lola Ridge
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