Growltiger's Last Stand Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABC DDEE FFGG HHII JJKL MMNN OOMM PPQQ PPQQ RRQQSSQQ SSSS TTUU SSVV| GROWLTIGER was a Bravo Cat who lived upon a barge | A |
| In fact he was the roughest cat that ever roamed at large | A |
| From Gravesend up to Oxford he pursued his evil aims | B |
| Rejoicing in his title of The Terror of the Thames | C |
| - | |
| His manners and appearance did not calculate to please | D |
| His coat was torn and seedy he was baggy at the knees | D |
| One ear was somewhat missing no need to tell you why | E |
| And he scowled upon a hostile world from one forbidding eye | E |
| - | |
| The cottagers of Rotherhithe knew something of his fame | F |
| At Hammersmith and Putney people shuddered at his name | F |
| They would fortify the hen house lock up the silly goose | G |
| When the rumour ran along the shore GROWLTIGER'S ON THE LOOSE | G |
| - | |
| Woe to the weak canary that fluttered from its cage | H |
| Woe to the pampered Pekinese that faced Growltiger's rage | H |
| Woe to the bristly Bandicoot that lurks on foreign ships | I |
| And woe to any Cat with whom Growltiger came to grips | I |
| - | |
| But most to Cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed | J |
| To Cats of foreign name and race no quarter was allowed | J |
| The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear | K |
| Because it was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear | L |
| - | |
| Now on a peaceful summer night all nature seemed at play | M |
| The tender moon was shining bright the barge at Molesey lay | M |
| All in the balmy moonlight it lay rocking on the tide | N |
| And Growltiger was disposed to show his sentimental side | N |
| - | |
| His bucko mate GRUMBUSKIN long since had disappeared | O |
| For to the Bell at Hampton he had gone to wet his beard | O |
| And his bosun TUMBLEBRUTUS he too had stol'n away | M |
| In the yard behind the Lion he was prowling for his prey | M |
| - | |
| In the forepeak of the vessel Growltiger sate alone | P |
| Concentrating his attention on the Lady GRIDDLEBONE | P |
| And his raffish crew were sleeping in their barrels and their bunks | Q |
| As the Siamese came creeping in their sampans and their junks | Q |
| - | |
| Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught but Griddlebone | P |
| And the Lady seemed enraptured by his manly baritone | P |
| Disposed to relaxation and awaiting no surprise | Q |
| But the moonlight shone reflected from a thousand bright blue eyes | Q |
| - | |
| And closer still and closer the sampans circled round | R |
| And yet from all the enemy there was not heard a sound | R |
| The lovers sang their last duet in danger of their lives | Q |
| For the foe was armed with toasting forks and cruel carving knives | Q |
| Then GILBERT gave the signal to his fierce Mongolian horde | S |
| With a frightful burst of fireworks the Chinks they swarmed aboard | S |
| Abandoning their sampans and their pullaways and junks | Q |
| They battened down the hatches on the crew within their bunks | Q |
| - | |
| Then Griddlebone she gave a screech for she was badly skeered | S |
| I am sorry to admit it but she quickly disappeared | S |
| She probably escaped with ease I'm sure she was not drowned | S |
| But a serried ring of flashing steel Growltiger did surround | S |
| - | |
| The ruthless foe pressed forward in stubborn rank on rank | T |
| Growltiger to his vast surprise was forced to walk the plank | T |
| He who a hundred victims had driven to that drop | U |
| At the end of all his crimes was forced to go ker flip ker flop | U |
| - | |
| Oh there was joy in Wapping when the news flew through the land | S |
| At Maidenhead and Henley there was dancing on the strand | S |
| Rats were roasted whole at Brentford and at Victoria Dock | V |
| And a day of celebration was commanded in Bangkok | V |
T. S. Eliot
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