The Ballad Of Salvation Bill Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCD EFEGHEHE IJIJDDDD EEEECEDE EKEKELEL EMEMEEEE DEDENENE OFOGPQPQ RSRSDEDE DEDETUTU VEVEDWDW HDHDDEDE| 'Twas in the bleary middle of the hard boiled Arctic night | A |
| I was lonesome as a loon so if you can | B |
| Imagine my emotions of amazement and delight | A |
| When I bumped into that Missionary Man | B |
| He was lying lost and dying in the moon's unholy leer | C |
| And frozen from his toes to finger tips' | D |
| The famished wolf pack ringed him but he didn't seem to fear | C |
| As he pressed his ice bond Bible to his lips | D |
| - | |
| 'Twas the limit of my trap line with the cabin miles away | E |
| And every step was like a stab of pain | F |
| But I packed him like a baby and I nursed him night and day | E |
| Till I got him back to health and strength again | G |
| So there we were benighted in the shadow of the Pole | H |
| And he might have proved a priceless little pard | E |
| If he hadn't got to worrying about my blessed soul | H |
| And a quotin' me his Bible by the yard | E |
| - | |
| Now there was I a husky guy whose god was Nicotine | I |
| With a coffin nail a fixture in my mug | J |
| I rolled them in the pages of a pulpwood magazine | I |
| And hacked them with my jack knife from the plug | J |
| For Oh to know the bliss and glow that good tobacco means | D |
| Just live among the everlasting ice | D |
| So judge my horror when I found my stock of magazines | D |
| Was chewed into a chowder by the mice | D |
| - | |
| A woeful week went by and not a single pill I had | E |
| Me that would smoke my forty in a day | E |
| I sighed I swore I strode the floor I felt I would go mad | E |
| The gospel plugger watched me with dismay | E |
| My brow was wet my teeth were set my nerves were rasping raw | C |
| And yet that preacher couldn't understand | E |
| So with despair I wrestled there when suddenly I saw | D |
| The volume he was holding in his hand | E |
| - | |
| Then something snapped inside my brain and with an evil start | E |
| The wolf man in me woke to rabid rage | K |
| I saved your lousy life says I so show you have a heart | E |
| And tear me out a solitary page | K |
| He shrank and shrivelled at my words his face went pewter white | E |
| 'Twas just as if I'd handed him a blow | L |
| And then and then he seemed to swell and grow to Heaven's height | E |
| And in a voice that rang he answered No | L |
| - | |
| I grabbed my loaded rifle and I jabbed it to his chest | E |
| Come on you shrimp give me that Book says I | M |
| Well sir he was a parson but he stacked up with the best | E |
| And for grit I got to hand it to the guy | M |
| If I should let you desecrate this Holy Word he said | E |
| My soul would be eternally accurst | E |
| So go on Bill I'm ready You can pump me full of lead | E |
| And take it but you've got to kill me first | E |
| - | |
| Now I'm no foul assassin though I'm full of sinful ways | D |
| And I knew right there the fellow had me beat | E |
| For I felt a yellow mongrel in the glory of his gaze | D |
| And I flung my foolish firearm at his feet | E |
| Then wearily I turned away and dropped upon my bunk | N |
| And there I lay and blubbered like a kid | E |
| Forgive me pard says I at last for acting like a skunk | N |
| But hide the blasted rifle Which he did | E |
| - | |
| And he also hid his Bible which was maybe just as well | O |
| For the sight of all that paper gave me pain | F |
| And there were crimson moments when I felt I'd o to hell | O |
| To have a single cigarette again | G |
| And so I lay day after day and brooded dark and deep | P |
| Until one night I thought I'd end it all | Q |
| Then rough I roused the preacher where he stretched pretending sleep | P |
| With his map of horror turned towards the wall | Q |
| - | |
| See here my pious pal says I I've stood it long enough | R |
| Behold I've mixed some strychnine in a cup | S |
| Enough to kill a dozen men believe me it's no bluff | R |
| Now watch me for I'm gonna drink it up | S |
| You've seen me bludgeoned by despair through bitter days and nights | D |
| And now you'll see me squirming as I die | E |
| You're not to blame you've played the game according to your lights | D |
| But how would Christ have played it Well good bye | E |
| - | |
| With that I raised the deadly drink and laid it to my lips | D |
| But he was on me with a tiger bound | E |
| And as we locked and reeled and rocked with wild and wicked grips | D |
| The poison cup went crashing to the ground | E |
| Don't do it Bill he madly shrieked Maybe I acted wrong | T |
| See here's my Bible use it as you will | U |
| But promise me you'll read a little as you go along | T |
| You do Then take it Brother smoke your fill | U |
| - | |
| And so I did I smoked and smoked from Genesis to Job | V |
| And as I smoked I read each blessed word | E |
| While in the shadow of his bunk I heard him sigh and sob | V |
| And then a most peculiar thing occurred | E |
| I got to reading more and more and smoking less and less | D |
| Till just about the day his heart was broke | W |
| Says I Here take it back me lad I've had enough I guess | D |
| Your paper makes a mighty rotten smoke | W |
| - | |
| So then and there with plea and prayer he wrestled for my soul | H |
| And I was racked and ravaged by regrets | D |
| But God was good for lo next day there came the police patrol | H |
| With paper for a thousand cigarettes | D |
| So now I'm called Salvation Bill I teach the Living Law | D |
| And Bally hoo the Bible with the best | E |
| And if a guy won't listen why I sock him on the jaw | D |
| And preach the Gospel sitting on his chest | E |
Robert Service
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Ballad Of Salvation Bill poem by Robert Service
Best Poems of Robert Service