The Stage-coach - Prose Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABAABC B D E F G H I J K B B L MMBBLL JN| Omne bene | A |
| Sine poena | A |
| Tempus est ludendi | B |
| Venit hora | A |
| Absque mora | A |
| Libros deponendi | B |
| OLD HOLIDAY SCHOOL SONG | C |
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| In the preceding paper I have made some general observations on the Christmas festivities of England and am tempted to illustrate them by some anecdotes of a Christmas passed in the country in perusing which I would most courteously invite my reader to lay aside the austerity of wisdom and to put on that genuine holiday spirit which is tolerant of folly and anxious only for amusement | B |
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| In the course of a December tour in Yorkshire I rode for a long distance in one of the public coaches on the day preceding Christmas The coach was crowded both inside and out with passengers who by their talk seemed principally bound to the mansions of relations or friends to eat the Christmas dinner It was loaded also with hampers of game and baskets and boxes of delicacies and hares hung dangling their long ears about the coachman's box presents from distant friends for the impending feast I had three fine rosy cheeked school boys for my fellow passengers inside full of the buxom health and manly spirit which I have observed in the children of this country They were returning home for the holidays in high glee and promising themselves a world of enjoyment It was delightful to hear the gigantic plans of the little rogues and the impracticable feats they were to perform during their six weeks' emancipation from the abhorred thraldom of book birch and pedagogue They were full of anticipations of the meeting with the family and household down to the very cat and dog and of the joy they were to give their little sisters by the presents with which their pockets were crammed but the meeting to which they seemed to look forward with the greatest impatience was with Bantam which I found to be a pony and according to their talk possessed of more virtues than any steed since the days of Bucephalus How he could trot how he could run and then such leaps as he would take there was not a hedge in the whole country that he could not clear | D |
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| They were under the particular guardianship of the coachman to whom whenever an opportunity presented they addressed a host of questions and pronounced him one of the best fellows in the world Indeed I could not but notice the more than ordinary air of bustle and importance of the coachman who wore his hat a little on one side and had a large bunch of Christmas greens stuck in the buttonhole of his coat He is always a personage full of mighty care and business but he is particularly so during this season having so many commissions to execute in consequence of the great interchange of presents And here perhaps it may not be unacceptable to my untravelled readers to have a sketch that may serve as a general representation of this very numerous and important class of functionaries who have a dress a manner a language an air peculiar to themselves and prevalent throughout the fraternity so that wherever an English stage coachman may be seen he cannot be mistaken for one of any other craft or mystery | E |
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| He has commonly a broad full face curiously mottled with red as if the blood had been forced by hard feeding into every vessel of the skin he is swelled into jolly dimensions by frequent potations of malt liquors and his bulk is still further increased by a multiplicity of coats in which he is buried like a cauliflower the upper one reaching to his heels He wears a broad brimmed low crowned hat a huge roll of colored handkerchief about his neck knowingly knotted and tucked in at the bosom and has in summer time a large bouquet of flowers in his buttonhole the present most probably of some enamored country lass His waistcoat is commonly of some bright color striped and his small clothes extend far below the knees to meet a pair of jockey boots which reach about halfway up his legs | F |
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| All this costume is maintained with much precision he has a pride in having his clothes of excellent materials and notwithstanding the seeming grossness of his appearance there is still discernible that neatness and propriety of person which is almost inherent in an Englishman He enjoys great consequence and consideration along the road has frequent conferences with the village housewives who look upon him as a man of great trust and dependence and he seems to have a good understanding with every bright eyed country lass The moment he arrives where the horses are to be changed he throws down the reins with something of an air and abandons the cattle to the care of the ostler his duty being merely to drive from one stage to another When off the box his hands are thrust into the pockets of his great coat and he rolls about the inn yard with an air of the most absolute lordliness Here he is generally surrounded by an admiring throng of ostlers stableboys shoeblacks and those nameless hangers on that infest inns and taverns and run errands and do all kind of odd jobs for the privilege of battening on the drippings of the kitchen and the leakage of the tap room These all look up to him as to an oracle treasure up his cant phrases echo his opinions about horses and other topics of jockey lore and above all endeavor to imitate his air and carriage Every ragamuffin that has a coat to his back thrusts his hands in the pockets rolls in his gait talks slang and is an embryo Coachey | G |
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| Perhaps it might be owing to the pleasing serenity that reigned in my own mind that I fancied I saw cheerfulness in every countenance throughout the journey A stage coach however carries animation always with it and puts the world in motion as it whirls along The horn sounded at the entrance of the village produces a general bustle Some hasten forth to meet friends some with bundles and bandboxes to secure places and in the hurry of the moment can hardly take leave of the group that accompanies them In the meantime the coachman has a world of small commissions to execute Sometimes he delivers a hare or pheasant sometimes jerks a small parcel or newspaper to the door of a public house and sometimes with knowing leer and words of sly import hands to some half blushing half laughing house maid an odd shaped billet doux from some rustic admirer As the coach rattles through the village every one runs to the window and you have glances on every side of fresh country faces and blooming giggling girls At the corners are assembled juntos of village idlers and wise men who take their stations there for the important purpose of seeing company pass but the sagest knot is generally at the blacksmith's to whom the passing of the coach is an event fruitful of much speculation The smith with the horse's heel in his lap pauses as the vehicle whirls by the cyclops round the anvil suspend their ringing hammers and suffer the iron to grow cool and the sooty spectre in brown paper cap laboring at the bellows leans on the handle for a moment and permits the asthmatic engine to heave a long drawn sigh while he glares through the murky smoke and sulphurous gleams of the smithy | H |
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| Perhaps the impending holiday might have given a more than usual animation to the country for it seemed to me as if everybody was in good looks and good spirits Game poultry and other luxuries of the table were in brisk circulation in the villages the grocers' butchers' and fruiterers' shops were thronged with customers The housewives were stirring briskly about putting their dwellings in order and the glossy branches of holly with their bright red berries began to appear at the windows The scene brought to mind an old writer's account of Christmas preparation Now capons and hens besides turkeys geese and ducks with beef and mutton must all die for in twelve days a multitude of people will not be fed with a little Now plums and spice sugar and honey square it among pies and broth Now or never must music be in tune for the youth must dance and sing to get them a heat while the aged sit by the fire The country maid leaves half her market and must be sent again if she forgets a pack of cards on Christmas Eve Great is the contention of holly and ivy whether master or dame wears the breeches Dice and cards benefit the butler and if the cook do not lack wit he will sweetly lick his fingers | I |
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| I was roused from this fit of luxurious meditation by a shout from my little travelling companions They had been looking out of the coach windows for the last few miles recognizing every tree and cottage as they approached home and now there was a general burst of joy There's John and there's old Carlo and there's Bantam cried the happy little rogues clapping their hands | J |
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| At the end of a lane there was an old sober looking servant in livery waiting for them he was accompanied by a superannuated pointer and by the redoubtable Bantam a little old rat of a pony with a shaggy mane and long rusty tail who stood dozing quietly by the roadside little dreaming of the bustling times that awaited him | K |
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| I was pleased to see the fondness with which the little fellows leaped about the steady old footman and hugged the pointer who wriggled his whole body for joy But Bantam was the great object of interest all wanted to mount at once and it was with some difficulty that John arranged that they should ride by turns and the eldest should ride first | B |
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| Off they set at last one on the pony with the dog bounding and barking before him and the others holding John's hands both talking at once and overpowering him with questions about home and with school anecdotes I looked after them with a feeling in which I do not know whether pleasure or melancholy predominated for I was reminded of those days when like them I had known neither care nor sorrow and a holiday was the summit of earthly felicity We stopped a few moments afterwards to water the horses and on resuming our route a turn of the road brought us in sight of a neat country seat I could just distinguish the forms of a lady and two young girls in the portico and I saw my little comrades with Bantam Carlo and old John trooping along the carriage road I leaned out of the coach window in hopes of witnessing the happy meeting but a grove of trees shut it from my sight | B |
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| In the evening we reached a village where I had determined to pass the night As we drove into the great gateway of the inn I saw on one side the light of a rousing kitchen fire beaming through a window I entered and admired for the hundredth time that picture of convenience neatness and broad honest enjoyment the kitchen of an English inn It was of spacious dimensions hung round with copper and tin vessels highly polished and decorated here and there with a Christmas green Hams tongues and flitches of bacon were suspended from the ceiling a smoke jack made its ceaseless clanking beside the fireplace and a clock ticked in one corner A well scoured deal table extended along one side of the kitchen with a cold round of beef and other hearty viands upon it over which two foaming tankards of ale seemed mounting guard Travellers of inferior order were preparing to attack this stout repast while others sat smoking and gossiping over their ale on two high backed oaken settles beside the fire Trim housemaids were hurrying backwards and forwards under the directions of a fresh bustling landlady but still seizing an occasional moment to exchange a flippant word and have a rallying laugh with the group round the fire The scene completely realized Poor Robin's humble idea of the comforts of midwinter | L |
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| Now trees their leafy hats do bare | M |
| To reverence Winter's silver hair | M |
| A handsome hostess merry host | B |
| A pot of ale now and a toast | B |
| Tobacco and a good coal fire | L |
| Are things this season doth require | L |
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| I had not been long at the inn when a post chaise drove up to the door A young gentleman stept out and by the light of the lamps I caught a glimpse of a countenance which I thought I knew I moved forward to get a nearer view when his eye caught mine I was not mistaken it was Frank Bracebridge a sprightly good humored young fellow with whom I had once travelled on the Continent Our meeting was extremely cordial for the countenance of an old fellow traveller always brings up the recollection of a thousand pleasant scenes odd adventures and excellent jokes To discuss all these in a transient interview at an inn was impossible and finding that I was not pressed for time and was merely making a tour of observation he insisted that I should give him a day or two at his father's country seat to which he was going to pass the holidays and which lay at a few miles' distance It is better than eating a solitary Christmas dinner at an inn said he and I can assure you of a hearty welcome in something of the old fashioned style His reasoning was cogent and I must confess the preparation I had seen for universal festivity and social enjoyment had made me feel a little impatient of my loneliness I closed therefore at once with his invitation the chaise drove up to the door and in a few moments I was on my way to the family mansion of the Bracebridges | J |
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Washington Irving
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