Lucille Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDEECC FFGGDDHHDDFF IIFFJJKKLLMMGG NNAAOOEEGGPPQQFFGGEE DDRRSS TTBBDDEEUUVVWWAAEE| Of course you've heard of the Nancy Lee and how she sailed away | A |
| On her famous quest of the Arctic flea to the wilds of Hudson's Bay | A |
| For it was a foreign Prince's whim to collect this tiny cuss | B |
| And a golden quid was no more to him than a copper to coves like us | B |
| So we sailed away and our hearts were gay as we gazed on the gorgeous scene | C |
| And we laughed with glee as we caught the flea of the wolf and the wolverine | C |
| Yea our hearts were light as the parasite of the ermine rat we slew | D |
| And the great musk ox and the silver fox and the moose and the caribou | D |
| And we laughed with zest as the insect pest of the marmot crowned our zeal | E |
| And the wary mink and the wily link and the walrus and the seal | E |
| And with eyes aglow on the scornful snow we danced a rigadoon | C |
| Round the lonesome lair of the Arctic hare by the light of the silver moon | C |
| - | |
| But the time was nigh to homeward hie when imagine our despair | F |
| For the best of the lot we hadn't got the flea of the polar bear | F |
| Oh his face was long and his breath was strong as the Skipper he says to me | G |
| I wants you to linger 'ere my lad by the shores of the Hartic Sea | G |
| I wants you to 'unt the polar bear the perishin' winter through | D |
| And if flea ye find of its breed and kind there's a 'undred quid for you | D |
| But I shook my head No Cap I said it's yourself I'd like to please | H |
| But I tells ye flat I wouldn't do that if ye went on yer bended knees | H |
| Then the Captain spat in the seething brine and he says Good luck to you | D |
| If it can't be did for a 'undred quid supposin' we call it two | D |
| So that was why they said good by and they sailed and left me there | F |
| Alone alone in the Arctic Zone to hunt for the polar bear | F |
| - | |
| Oh the days were slow and packed with woe till I thought they would never end | I |
| And I used to sit when the fire was lit with my pipe for my only friend | I |
| And I tried to sing some rollicky thing but my song broke off in a prayer | F |
| And I'd drowse and dream by the driftwood gleam I'd dream of a polar bear | F |
| I'd dream of a cloudlike polar bear that blotted the stars on high | J |
| With ravenous jaws and flenzing claws and the flames of hell in his eye | J |
| And I'd trap around on the frozen ground as a proper hunter ought | K |
| And beasts I'd find of every kind but never the one I sought | K |
| Never a track in the white ice pack that humped and heaved and flawed | L |
| Till I came to think Why strike me pink if the creature ain't a fraud | L |
| And then one night in the waning light as I hurried home to sup | M |
| I hears a roar by the cabin door and a great white hulk heaves up | M |
| So my rifle flashed and a bullet crashed dead dead as a stone fell he | G |
| And I gave a cheer for there in his ear Gosh ding me a tiny flea | G |
| - | |
| At last at last Oh I clutched it fast and I gazed on it with pride | N |
| And I thrust it into a biscuit tin and I shut it safe inside | N |
| With a lid of glass for the light to pass and space to leap and play | A |
| Oh it kept alive yea seemed to thrive as I watched it night and day | A |
| And I used to sit and sing to it and I shielded it from harm | O |
| And many a hearty feed it had on the heft of my hairy arm | O |
| For you'll never know in that land of snow how lonesome a man can feel | E |
| So I made a fuss of the little cuss and I christened it Lucille | E |
| But the longest winter has its end and the ice went out to sea | G |
| And I saw one day a ship in the bay and there was the Nancy Lee | G |
| So a boat was lowered and I went aboard and they opened wide their eyes | P |
| Yes they gave a cheer when the truth was clear and they saw my precious prize | P |
| And then it was all like a giddy dream but to cut my story short | Q |
| We sailed away on the fifth of May to the foreign Prince's court | Q |
| To a palmy land and a palace grand and the little Prince was there | F |
| And a fat Princess in a satin dress with a crown of gold on her hair | F |
| And they showed me into a shiny room just him and her and me | G |
| And the Prince he was pleased and friendly like and he calls for drinks for three | G |
| And I shows them my battered biscuit tin and I makes my modest spiel | E |
| And they laughed they did when I opened the lid and out there popped Lucille | E |
| - | |
| Oh the Prince was glad I could soon see that and the Princess she was too | D |
| And Lucille waltzed round on the tablecloth as she often used to do | D |
| And the Prince pulled out a purse of gold and he put it in my hand | R |
| And he says It was worth all that I'm told to stay in that nasty land | R |
| And then he turned with a sudden cry and he clutched at his royal beard | S |
| And the Princess screamed and well she might for Lucille had disappeared | S |
| - | |
| She must be here said his Noble Nibbs so we hunted all around | T |
| Oh we searched that place but never a trace of the little beast we found | T |
| So I shook my head and I glumly said Gol darn the saucy cuss | B |
| It's mighty queer but she isn't here so she must be on one of us | B |
| You'll pardon me if I make so free but there's just one thing to do | D |
| If you'll kindly go for a half a mo' I'll search me garments through | D |
| Then all alone on the shiny throne I stripped from head to heel | E |
| In vain in vain it was very plain that I hadn't got Lucille | E |
| So I garbed again and I told the Prince and he scratched his august head | U |
| I suppose if she hasn't selected you it must be me he said | U |
| So he retired but he soon came back and his features showed distress | V |
| Oh it isn't you and it isn't me Then we looked at the Princess | V |
| So she retired and we heard a scream and she opened wide the door | W |
| And her fingers twain were pinched to pain but a radiant smile she wore | W |
| It's here she cries our precious prize Oh I found it right away | A |
| Then I ran to her with a shout of joy but I choked with a wild dismay | A |
| I clutched the back of the golden throne and the room began to reel | E |
| What she held to me was ah yes a flea but it wasn't my Lucille | E |
Robert William Service
(1)
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