The Spectre Pig - A Ballad Poem Rhyme Scheme

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It was the stalwart butcher man	A
That knit his swarthy brow	B
And said the gentle Pig must die	C
And sealed it with a vow	B
	-
And oh it was the gentle Pig	D
Lay stretched upon the ground	E
And ah it was the cruel knife	F
His little heart that found	E
	-
They took him then those wicked men	G
They trailed him all along	H
They put a stick between his lips	I
And through his heels a thong	H
	-
And round and round an oaken beam	J
A hempen cord they flung	K
And like a mighty pendulum	L
All solemnly he swung	K
	-
Now say thy prayers thou sinful man	A
And think what thou hast done	M
And read thy catechism well	N
Thou bloody minded one	M
	-
For if his sprite should walk by night	O
It better were for thee	P
That thou wert mouldering in the ground	E
Or bleaching in the sea	P
	-
It was the savage butcher then	G
That made a mock of sin	Q
And swore a very wicked oath	R
He did not care a pin	Q
	-
It was the butcher's youngest son	M
His voice was broke with sighs	S
And with his pocket handkerchief	T
He wiped his little eyes	S
	-
All young and ignorant was he	P
But innocent and mild	U
And in his soft simplicity	P
Out spoke the tender child	U
	-
Oh father father list to me	P
The Pig is deadly sick	V
And men have hung him by his heels	W
And fed him with a stick	V
	-
It was the bloody butcher then	G
That laughed as he would die	C
Yet did he soothe the sorrowing child	U
And bid him not to cry	C
	-
Oh Nathan Nathan what's a Pig	D
That thou shouldst weep and wail	X
Come bear thee like a butcher's child	U
And thou shalt have his tail	X
	-
It was the butcher's daughter then	G
So slender and so fair	Y
That sobbed as it her heart would break	Z
And tore her yellow hair	Y
	-
And thus she spoke in thrilling tone	A2
Fast fell the tear drops big	D
Ah woe is me Alas Alas	B2
The Pig The Pig The Pig	D
	-
Then did her wicked father's lips	I
Make merry with her woe	C2
And call her many a naughty name	D2
Because she whimpered so	C2
	-
Ye need not weep ye gentle ones	E2
In vain your tears are shed	F2
Ye cannot wash his crimson hand	G2
Ye cannot soothe the dead	F2
	-
The bright sun folded on his breast	H2
His robes of rosy flame	D2
And softly over all the west	H2
The shades of evening came	D2
	-
He slept and troops of murdered Pigs	I2
Were busy with his dreams	J2
Loud rang their wild unearthly shrieks	K2
Wide yawned their mortal seams	J2
	-
The clock struck twelve the Dead hath heard	L2
He opened both his eyes	S
And sullenly he shook his tail	X
To lash the feeding flies	S
	-
One quiver of the hempen cord	M2
One struggle and one bound	E
With stiffened limb and leaden eye	C
The Pig was on the ground	E
	-
And straight towards the sleeper's house	N2
His fearful way he wended	E
And hooting owl and hovering bat	E
On midnight wing attended	E
	-
Back flew the bolt up rose the latch	O2
And open swung the door	P2
And little mincing feet were heard	E
Pat pat along the floor	P2
	-
Two hoofs upon the sanded floor	P2
And two upon the bed	E
And they are breathing side by side	E
The living and the dead	E
	-
Now wake now wake thou butcher man	A
What makes thy cheek so pale	X
Take hold take hold thou dost not fear	Q2
To clasp a spectre's tail	X
	-
Untwisted every winding coil	R2
The shuddering wretch took hold	E
All like an icicle it seemed	E
So tapering and so cold	E
	-
Thou com'st with me thou butcher man	A
He strives to loose his grasp	S2
But faster than the clinging vine	T2
Those twining spirals clasp	S2
	-
And open open swung the door	P2
And fleeter than the wind	E
The shadowy spectre swept before	P2
The butcher trailed behind	E
	-
Fast fled the darkness of the night	E
And morn rose faint and dim	U2
They called full loud they knocked full long	H
They did not waken him	U2
	-
Straight straight towards that oaken beam	J
A trampled pathway ran	A
A ghastly shape was swinging there	Y
It was the butcher man	A

Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Spectre Pig - A Ballad Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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