Rip Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A B C D E F G F H I J| Rip an inarticulate dog with a namesake derivative of more | A |
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| Rip arrives as a pup large abounding with energy though somewhat clumsy in his gait But Rip is no matter of fact bowser the type that woofs approvingly at your presence then is content to carry himself off to a corner and deliver up his bulk with an unrelieved sigh Nevertheless one does suspect his nose is wet or as shiny as a washcloth but such familiarities are not extended to strange dogs | B |
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| Rip's progress in his new home is eventful Early in his stay he gleefully corners a porcupine and gets a face full of quills for violating that one inescapable fact accorded to all life on this planet introductions are always in order in untried situations One must proceed with due caution through proper channels or suspicion will ensue Rip nurses a bandaged nose sees the inside of a vet's garage replete with a scourge of animals more reminiscent of a concentration camp than an infirmary is duly horrified then droops off to a needle While recovering a kitten perches on his upper abdomen and goes to sleep A thoughtful child covers Rip with an old rug Rip's tongue nearly flattens the mat as it lolls from his mouth The edge of his jaw is ringed with a black tarry substance that grows more viscous the longer Rip is under sedation Rip's education proceeds apace | C |
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| By a queer turn of events big Rip was to become associated with a number of incontestable oddities each sufficient to besmirch his name Firstly Rip's very name popped up with annoying frequency How the family queried had the name Rip been chosen anyway Of this no one seemed certain The father remembered some vacation talk when references were being made to a rip roaring time and that perhaps a pup would soon be in the offing Apart from this Rip's name and how they had deigned to associate that foppish hound with Rip remained a mystery The children in their homework moreover were increasingly being made aware of the times Rip seemed to get in the semantics of the language English orthography and even the warp and woof of history itself Certainly Rip or someone like him had been outstanding | D |
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| Rip Van Winkle's first disclosure caused one such stir One child particularly pressed for explanations Had this other Rip been doggishly inclined Did Rumpelstiltskin have a brother named Rip No repeated the mother unless the child's inference was to Rip's great doggish capacity for sleep or Rumpelstiltskin's spinning or spilling of hair or food A second child not meaning to be overly precocious similarly unearthed a red herring Rip Taylor the comedian had Rip's name Was he too er like Rip The mother smiled Only in his buffoonery but she again was unsure why either Rip had been so named | E |
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| Some days later the children heard one of the older boys in public school boasting of being ripped the weekend before The younger child wary of being ridiculed but curious as to this new utterance of the family pet's name pressed for some explanation Utter derision The child shame facedly brought the problem home The mother not trained in the lore of schoolyard vernacular thought the boy in question had escaped a whipping for tearing something and was boasting of his prowess in side stepping authority The father thought not He gently told the child that the wine the parents were enjoying could be well abused One child immediately thought abused was a reference to abusing one's body through self exploration or playing doctor but the father clarified that matter A touchy exchange followed over how something pleasurable caused harm The mother retreated into a homily all things in moderation and told the children they would understand as they grew older The elder son persisted however in questioning how something bad if included under the all as stated could be either moderate or good depending on the circumstances He further demanded what reception the schoolyard braggart would have given such sagacious counsel | F |
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| Events were kept on slow boil over the following week It began to appear as if the issue was becoming only remotely curious Rip still dozed before the fire and wagged a buffoonish tail in servile recognition Then one day on researching a project the son happened upon the term rip tide Further inquiries followed The hound of course had not the remotest connection with ocean currents Yet the origin of his nickname was as puzzling as ever Ripcords and ripoffs deepened the controversy The rippling effects of wind on sand too had to be dismissed out of hand as a key to Rip's misnomer Strange too that no one thought to question the nickname Sandy as a touchstone for unraveling Rip's dilemma | G |
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| Perplexity next turned to one Rin Tin Tin He too had a nonsensical name but his sanity and reputation escaped unscathed perhaps for no other reason than the sonorous incantation of his vowels To be called Rip it seemed was nakedly plebian a type of proletarian churl of the canine underworld Besides substituting Rip for Rin seemed too openly imitative and it didn't begin to solve what prompted the naming of the family pet It began to look as if all coupling of objects and titles was by its nature inexplicable | F |
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| The father then proceeded to bring a certain sophistication to the broadening quandary People he ascertained grew towards their names Positive intriguing names were an asset Awkward embarrassing ones moreover were definite obstacles to progression in life Did not Jack the Ripper have infamy forever etched within his name Maybe none ever took Doctor Cream alias the Ripper seriously And whose idea was it to substitute R I P on tombstones But then a certain Ripley made a name for himself by documenting the unusual so Rip wasn't the only one that lived in a dog eat dog world However the evidence was not in as to whether a dog could labour under a name's handicap | H |
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| Then one afternoon while engaging in the bravado of chasing cars and attempting to bite their hubcaps Rip miscued and ran headlong under the wheels Rip's entire frame rippled with the impact of the collision Thereafter Rip indeed became an oddity for more reasons than his name Some say he became psychotic if indeed dogs are capable of such things Barking at imaginary postmen baying like a banshee at cars baring his teeth at passersby word travelled about this insufferable dog The father skilled in avoiding unpleasantness had Rip put to sleep The children seemed to understand | I |
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| And of Rip He went to his end as uncomprehendingly as he had sat through the entire deliberation on his title and existence | J |
Paul Cameron Brown
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