SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 1 – MARLEY’S
GHOST – Verses 1 to 4
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 1 – THE
PREAMBLE
Marley was dead
let there be no doubt about that
The register
was duly signed and can be looked at
To argue with
the evidence proves to be of no avail
Poor Old Jacob
Marley was as dead as a doornail
So there was no
doubt of Marley's demise as I said
Of course
Ebeneezer Scrooge knew he was dead
They were in
partnership for years very profitably
And at his
death Scrooge was the sole beneficiary
Despite a long
association Scrooge was not so sad
Though he
wasn’t deeply upset nor was he glad
Doubtless Jacob
Marley was dead, as we now know
This must be
distinctly understood from the get go
Or nothing
wonderful can ever come from this tale
An almost
magical story that I wish now to detail
VERSE 2 –
SCROOGE AND MARLEY
As Scrooge and
Marley the Company was known
And above the
warehouse door the sign was shown
Scrooge never
painted old Jacob Marley's name out
And years
afterwards it was clearly visible without
Scrooge was a
tight fisted and covetous old sinner
Hard as flint, self-contained,
and solitary as an oyster
He had cold
frozen old features and a pointed nose
Mean from his
shriveled cheeks to his stiffened toes
His thin curled
lips emitted chilling grating tones
Enough to send
an icy shiver right to your bones
Nobody asked
him for directions or the time of day
And old blind
men and beggars kept out of his way
No acquaintance
ever inquired of him “How are you?”
And certainly
no stranger ever asked “How do you do?”
VERSE 3 – IN
THE COUNTING HOUSE
Once upon a
time on a Christmas Eve Scrooge sat
Busy in his
counting house with his open ledgers fat
It was cold,
bleak, biting weather with freezing fog
And the streets
were enveloped in a thick Grey smog
In the gloom
people could be heard out in the street
Stamping hard
on the pavements to warm their feet
The city of
London clocks had only just gone three
But with the
weather it was dark as night already
The door of
Scrooge's counting house was left open
That he might
keep his eye upon his clerk in his pen
Mr. Scrooge had
a very small fire burning in his grate
But the clerk's
fire was so small so as to be third rate
It looked like
only one small solitary coal in the gloom
Ebeneezer
Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room
When the clerk
came in with a shovel for more coal
He was
threatened with his dismissal for his console
Thereupon the
clerk put on his comforter and his hat
And tried to
warm himself at a candle and that was that
VERSE 4 – A
NEPHEW COMES A CALLING
“Merry
Christmas, uncle” Cried a voice “God save you”
It was the
hearty cheerful voice of Scrooge's nephew
Who had quickly
entered through his uncle’s open door
“Bah!” said
Scrooge “Humbug!” he said to his visitor
He had a ruddy
and handsome face and sparkling eyes
And his uncle’s
response came, as little or no surprise
“Christmas a
humbug, uncle!” said Scrooge's nephew
“You don't mean
that, I am sure.” Scrooge said, “I do,”
“Merry
Christmas! What reason, have you to be merry?
You're poor
enough.” Scrooge continued harshly
“Come then,
what right have you to live so dismally?
You're rich
enough uncle” returned the nephew gaily
Scrooge having
no better answer to show his disdain
Said “Bah!” and
followed it up with “Humbug.” again
“Uncle! I did
not come here today in order to upset you
Please don’t be
cross, sir!” said the cheerful nephew
“What else can
I be, when I live in such a world of fools?
Merry
Christmas! Greetings festiveness and Yule’s
What is
Christmas but a time for buying things?
With no money
and the unhappiness that brings
And a time for
finding yourself another year older
And finding
you’re not an hour nor a penny richer
If I could only
work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly
“Every idiot
with a Merry Christmas' on his lips I see
Would be boiled
with his own pudding for a start
And buried with
a stake of holly through his heart”
“Uncle! Its
Christmas” said the nephew pleadingly
“Nephew!”
returned uncle Ebeneezer very sternly
“You are
welcome to keep Christmas in your own way
Allow me to
keep it in mine is all that I need to say”
“Keep it!”
replied the nephew. “But you don't keep it.”
“Let me leave
it alone, then,” said Scrooge in a fit
“Much good may
it do you! Much good it has ever done!”
He almost spat
out the words at his dear sister’s son
“There are many
things from which” returned the nephew
“I may have
derived good, by which I did not profit a sou
Christmas among
the rest and I have always believed,
Of this time
when it has come round, to be conceived
Apart from the
veneration due its sacred name and origin
If anything
belonging to it can be apart from that to begin
As a good time,
kind, forgiving, charitable, and pleasant
A time, merry,
joyful and festive and clearly heaven sent
The only time I
know of, in the calendar of the year,
When men and
women open their hearts without fear
Though it has
never put a scrap of gold in my pocket,
It has done me
good, and will do me good God bless it!”
The clerk
involuntarily applauded at what was said
Then came to
his senses and he poked the fire instead
“If I hear
another sound from you,” said Scrooge
in irritation
“You'll keep
your Christmas by losing your situation”
“Well Nephew
you're quite the powerful speaker”
Said Scrooge “I
wonder you don't go into Parliament sir”
“Don't be
angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us tomorrow.”
Scrooge
vehemently declined filling the boy with sorrow
“But why? I
don’t understand “Scrooge’s nephew queried
Uncle Scrooge
asked him “Why did you get married?”
“I married
because I fell in love with her uncle Ebeneezer”
“Because you
fell in love!” said Scrooge, “what an answer”
“Why can’t we
be friends? I want nothing from you”
“Good
afternoon,” said Scrooge “Good afternoon nephew,”
“I am heartily
sorry to find you so resolute against me
We have never
had a quarrel to the best of my memory”
So uncle
Ebeneezer I wish A Merry Christmas, to you”
“Good
afternoon,” said Scrooge “Good afternoon nephew,”
“And uncle I
wish the very Happiest New Year to you!”
“Good
afternoon!” said Scrooge “Good afternoon nephew,”
He left the
room without an angry word or remark
Stopping at the
door to offer greetings to the clerk
Though chilled
to the bone and weakened physically
He was warmer
than Scrooge in returning them cordially
“There's a
fellow fool,” muttered Scrooge “indeed”
“My own clerk
with a wife and six children to feed
With fifteen
shillings a week to keep a roof over head
Talking about a
merry Christmas, Bah Humbug I said”
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 1 – MARLEY’S
GHOST – Verses 5 to 7
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens “A
CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 5 – TWO
GENTLEMEN COME A CALLING
No sooner had
Scrooge's nephew gone out of view
Than entered a
party of gentlemen numbering two
They were both
pleasant looking portly gentlemen
Who now stood,
hats off, in Scrooge's office environ
They had books
and papers in their hands, and bowed
One produced a
list of which he was obviously proud
“Scrooge and
Marley's, I believe,” said one of the men
After scanning
down a list of names with the point of a pen
“Is it Mr.
Scrooge I’m addressing or Mr. Marley instead?”
“Mr. Marley’s
been dead these seven years,” Scrooge said
“It was in fact
that he died seven years ago this very night”
Scrooge said
examining their credentials by candlelight
“We have no
doubt,” said the larger gentlemen of the pair
“His liberality
is well represented by his surviving partner”
At the very
ominous word “liberality,” Scrooge frowned
And he handed
their credentials back without a sound
“At this
festive season of the year” said one gentleman,
“It’s desirable
that we should make provision if we can
For the Poor
and Destitute, who suffer greatly at this time
Many thousands
are in want, which is really such a crime
They lack
common necessaries and common comforts, sir.”
“Are there no
prisons?” asked Scrooge sitting in his chair
“Plenty of
prisons,” said the gentleman without hesitation
“And the Union
workhouses? Are they still in operation?”
“They are, I
wish they were not” replied one gentleman
“The Treadmill
and the Poor Law are in full vigor, then?”
Scrooge asked
and was told “They’re both very busy, sir”
Scrooge smiled
and seemed to relax back into his chair
“Oh well I'm
very glad to hear it” Ebeneezer scrooge said
“I was afraid
that something had occurred to stop them dead”
“I’m relieved
to hear they continue in their useful course”
Undeterred the
gentlemen continued with some remorse
“A few of us
are raising a fund to buy the Poor some meat
And drink and
means of warmth or a blanket and a sheet
We choose this
time when want is keenly felt by the poor
And abundance
rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”
Both men looked
expectant Scrooge replied “Nothing!”
“You wish to be
anonymous?” asked one man nodding
“I wish to be
left alone,” said Scrooge “Since you ask me
What I wish,
gentlemen, that is the answer I decree
I don't make
merry myself at Christmas on the contrary
And I certainly
can’t afford to make idle people merry
I have
mentioned the establishments I help to support
And those who
are badly off must go there for comfort”
The two
gentlemen shook their heads at Scrooge’s reply
“Many cannot go
there and many would rather die.”
Scrooge’s
response was the most savage declaration
“They should do
it and decrease the surplus population”
Scrooge
returned “The poor are not my business,
It's enough for
a man to know his own business
And not to
interfere in other people's in anyway
Mine occupies
me constantly gentlemen Good day!”
Seeing clearly
that it would be useless to pursue
And with
spirits depleted the gentlemen withdrew
VERSE 6 – IN
THE COUNTING HOUSE AGAIN
Mr. Scrooge
returned to his labors with renewed vigor
And an improved
opinion of himself as a moral figure
He was left in
peace for the remainder of the working day
Save for
Carolers who he unceremoniously shooed away
The hour of
shutting up the counting house arrived duly
And with an
ill-will Scrooge dismounted his stool tacitly
The poor
expectant clerk instantly snuffed his candle out
And adjusted
his clothing in preparation of going without
“You'll want
all day to-morrow?” said Scrooge sharply
“If it’s quite
convenient, sir.” The clerk replied meekly
“It's not
convenient and it’s unfair. If I was to stop your pay
Scrooge ranted “you'd
think yourself ill-used, I'll dare say”
“And yet,” said
Scrooge pointing at his cowering clerk
“You don't
think me ill-used, when I pay wages for no work.”
The poor clerk
observed that it was only once a year.
This retort
merely enraged Scrooge even more I fear
“And that’s a
poor excuse for picking a man's pocket
Every
twenty-fifth of December!” he said in a blue fit
“But I suppose
you must have the whole day” he said
“But you be
here all the earlier next morning instead”
The clerk
promised faithfully that he would without doubt
And growling
disapproval Ebeneezer Scrooge walked out
VERSE 7 –
CLERKING ABOUT
The office was
closed in the merest twinkling of an eye
And the clerk
in the spirit of the season bad the office goodbye
With the ends
of his white comforter dangling below his waist
He made his way
home to Camden Town with great haste
Stopping only
to take turns with a group of boys on a slide
Only about
twenty times at the end of the lane near Cheapside
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 1 – MARLEY’S
GHOST – Verse 8
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 8 – A
VERY UNEXPECTED VISITOR
Ebeneezer
Scrooge took his melancholy dinner alone
In his usual
melancholy tavern “The Regents Throne”
And after all
the daily newspapers had been duly read
Scrooge
buttoned up his coat and went home to bed
He lived in the
chambers, which were once the property
Of his deceased
friend and partner Mr. Jacob Marley
They were a
gloomy suite of rooms in a crumbling pile
Tucked away in
a back alley Close to the square mile
It was old,
dreary and but for Scrooge nobody lived in it
As all the
other rooms all being used as offices to be let
The fog and
frost hung about the doorway of the building
So That Scrooge
could only find the keyhole by feeling
Now, it is a
fact, that there was nothing at all particular
About the
knocker on the door neither strange or peculiar
Except that it
was large and in the form of a lion’s head
Though in all
other respects it was quite usual as I said
It’s a fact,
that Scrooge had seen it night and morning
From his first
day there to the last and every one during
Bearing in mind
that Scrooge had not thought in any way
Of Marley since
mention of his dead partner earlier that day
So then how
could it happen that Scrooge, key in the door
Saw in the
knocker, Marley’s face who wasn’t alive anymore
Not an angry
face but looked as he did before he was dead
With ghostly
spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead
Moments past As
Scrooge looked hard at this phenomenon
And then it was
a knocker again and Marley’s face was gone
To say that he
was not startled or scared would be untrue
He unlocked the
door and entered, what else was he to do
He did pause
for a moment before he shut the door
And he did look
cautiously behind it but did no more
There were only
screws and nuts to hold the knocker
So he said “Pooh,
pooh!” and slammed it like thunder
He fastened the
door, and walked slowly across the hall
And up the
stairs lit by his candle careful not to fall
The staircase
was so wide and gloomy, as the light was dim
He notioned he
saw a hearse and six white horses ahead of him
Scrooge
dismissed it a trick of the light or lack of it
And continued
slowly up the huge stair case to the summit
It would have
been easy to have had the entrance lit
But the
Darkness is cheap, and Mr. Scrooge liked it
Nonetheless
before he shut and bolted his heavy door
He walked
through his suite of rooms just to make sure
Nobody was
under the bed or behind the door there
Nobody was
under the table or indeed under the sofa
Quite
satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in
Thus secured
against surprise he began his undressing
Putting on his
slippers, nightcap and his dressing-gown
He prepared to
take supper by the fire where he sat down
On a bitter
night it was a very low fire with little fuel
Scrooge sat
very close to the fire while he took his gruel
The fireplace
was paved with tiles adorned with pictures
They were many
and varied and illustrated the Scriptures
Out of one of
these pictures Marley’s head was seen to zoom
“Humbug!” said
Scrooge and got up to pace the room
After several
turns, he sat down again and his gaze fell
In the
direction of a dusty corner and an old disused bell
It was with
great astonishment, and with a strange dread
He saw this
bell start swinging as he sat gazing ahead
It swung so
softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound
But soon every
bell in the house rang loud and echoed around
This might have
lasted a minute, but it seemed like an hour
Then the bells
ceased just as they had begun, together
They were
succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below
Scrooge thought
maybe chains dragging but he didn’t know
Then he heard
the noise coming up the stairs much louder
Then coming
straight towards his door louder and louder
“It’s humbug
still!” shouted Scrooge. “I won't believe it.”
His color
changed though and he was scared more than a bit
When, without a
pause, it came on through the heavy door
Passing into
the room before his eyes then moving no more
Scrooge thought
its Marley in his usual waistcoat not dead
From his tights
and boots even to the hair upon his head
The chain he
drew was clasped and about his middle it went
It was long,
and wound about him like tail of a serpent
It was made of
cash-boxes, keys, and had padlocks on
And ledgers,
deeds, and heavy purses wrought in iron
His body was
transparent, so that Scrooge, observing him
And looking
through him could see the wall though dim
Scrooge thought
this is Marley but he is decidedly dead
From his tights
and boots even to the hair upon his head
He looked at
the phantom but no matter what his mind says
He was still
incredulous, and fought against his senses
Said Scrooge
caustically “What do you want with me?”
“Much!” said
the unmistakable voice of Jacob Marley
“Who are you?”
Ebeneezer Scrooge asked hesitantly
“Why not ask me
who I was.” Replied the entity
“Who were you then?” said Scrooge with
irritation
“You're very
particular indeed spirit, for an apparition
“In life I was
your partner,” said the spirit “Jacob Marley”
At this scrooge turned paler and his legs
turned to jelly
“Can you -- can
you sit down?” he asked his old partner
Doubtful of the
ghost’s ability to actually use a chair
“I can,” said
Marley surprised at the question
“Do it then.”
Scrooge instructed with apprehension
“You don't
believe in me,” observed the ghost Marley
“I do not,”
said Scrooge spitting out the words defiantly
“What evidence
would you want to have of my reality?
Beyond that of
your senses?” asked the strange entity
“I don't know,”
said Scrooge replying to the question
“Why do you
doubt your own senses?” asked the apparition
“Because” said
Scrooge “The slightest thing affects them
A slight
disorder of the stomach makes cheats of them
You may be an
undigested bit of beef quite possibly
Or a blob of
mustard, a crumb of cheese, or piccalilli
A fragment of
an underdone potato should I continue?
There's
certainly more of gravy than of grave about you”
Scrooge was
very pleased indeed with his little jest
But he still
worried about offending his uninvited guest
“You see this
toothpick?” Ebeneezer Scrooge then said
“I do,” Jacob
Marley answered without moving his head
“You are not
looking at it” Scrooge pointed out
“But I see it”
said the Ghost “without any doubt”
“Well I have
but to swallow without hesitation
And I’ll be
plagued goblins all of my own creation
It’s all a
Humbug” said Scrooge “Humbug I tell you!”
At this the
spirit raised up causing a terrible to do
Shaking his
chains as well as wailing and screaming
Poor Scrooge
could only hide behind his chair shaking
“Mercy!”
Scrooge pleaded “Why do you trouble me?”
“Do you believe
in me or not?” shouted Marley
“I do,” said
Scrooge. “I must oh yes spirit I do”
“But why do
spirits walk the earth tell me I beg you”
“It is required
of every man that the spirit within
Should walk
forth, far abroad among his fellowmen
But if the
spirits do not go forth during their life time
They are
condemned to do so after deaths chime”
Again the
spirit raised up causing a terrible to do
Shaking his
chains screaming as well as wailing too
“Wandering and
witnessing what they cannot share
But might have
shared on earth bringing happiness there”
“You are
fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?”
“I wear the
chain I forged in life,” was the ghosts reply
“I forged this
chain link by link, and yard by yard
Made of my own
free will and toiled on very hard”
“The chain that
you wear yourself” he said in monotone
“Was as full
and as heavy and as long as my own
Seven Christmas
Eves ago you’ve labored on it since
Now it is a
truly ponderous chain” he saw Scrooge wince
Scrooge glanced
about him and could see nothing
“Jacob speak
comfort to me Jacob!” he said imploring
“I have no
comfort to give,” replied Jacob Marley
“That comes
from other regions and ministers than me
My spirit never
walked beyond our office so help me
Never roamed
beyond our money changing hole you see”
“But Jacob you
were always a good man of business”
“Business!”
cried the Ghost “Mankind was my business
The common
welfare was my business and forbearance
My business
should have been charity mercy and benevolence
The poor should
have counted in my business dealings”
Scrooge was
horrified by his old partner’s rantings
“Hear me!”
cried the Ghost. “My time is nearly gone”
“I will,” said
Scrooge “Please let’s just have it done”
“How I appear
before you in the form I cannot say
I have sat
invisible beside you many and many a day”
Scrooge found
the idea was not at all an agreeable one
And shivered at
the very thought of being spied upon
“I am here
to-night to warn you” Marley began to dictate
“That you have
yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate”
Scrooge replied
“You were always a good friend to me”
“You will be
haunted,” resumed the Ghost, “By spirits Three”
On hearing this
news made Scrooges temples throb
“Is that the
chance and hope you mentioned, Jacob?”
Ebeneezer
demanded, in a faltering voice “It is yes”
“I -- I think
I'd rather not,” said Scrooge in distress
“Without their
visits,” Jacob Marley's Ghost said
“You cannot
hope to shun the dreadful path I tread
Ebeneezer
expect the first of the visitors to come”
Marley
continued “Tomorrow, when the bell tolls one”
“Jacob Couldn't
I take all three of them together”
Scrooge
suggested nervously “And have it all over”
“Expect the
second at the same hour on the next night
The third upon
the next night on the stroke of midnight”
Jacob Marley
wailed “Look to see me no more Ebeneezer”
“And look at
what has passed between us and remember”
After these
words, the spectre backed slowly away
With each step
the window inched up a little way
When Marley
reached the window it was wide open
And he beckoned
Ebeneezer Scrooge to join him then
When they were
within two paces of each other
Marley's Ghost
held up its hand to stop him coming closer
Scrooge
suddenly became aware of a mournful sound
Marley's went
out the window hovering above the ground
Jacobs’s ghost
was joined by a throng of other spectre's
They had chains
and scrooge knew some of these others
Marley and the
other spirits and the voices faded together
And they then
just disappeared into the misty weather
Scrooge then
closed the window in against the night
He was
shivering with the cold as well as from fright
Then he
examined the door by which the Ghost entered
The
double-locks and bolts were all undisturbed
He was about to
say “Humbug!” but in the end didn’t
Being drained
from emotion it was in fact he couldn’t
Then overcome
by the fatigues of a long strange day
He went to bed
falling asleep almost straight away
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 2 – THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS – Verses 1 to 2
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 1 -
AWAKENING
It was so dark
when scrooge awoke from his slumber
That he could
scarcely see across his bedchamber
He was trying
to pierce the dark with ferret eyes
And he peered
out the window at the darkened skies
When he was
startled by the church clock chimes
As it suddenly
struck out the quarters all Four times
With the sound
reverberating from the church tower
Scrooge
listened for the great clock to strike the hour
To his great
astonishment the heavy bell went on
From six to
seven to eight, and regularly past eleven
In fact it
struck all the way to twelve then silence
Twelve? It was
two when he retired it made no sense
The clock must
be wrong and most probably it was broken
Ice must have
got into the works if he was not mistaken
Twelve? Scrooge
touched the spring of his repeater
To correct this
most preposterous public chronometer
The repeater’s
rapid little pulse beat twelve and ceased
“Why, it isn't
possible,” He said with forehead creased
“That I can
have slept through a whole day, it isn’t right
And furthermore
that I should sleep far into another night
It isn't
possible anything has happened to the sun
And it’s twelve
at noon.” This idea was an alarming one
He could see
nor hear signs of life on the street below
After he had
rubbed the frost off his bedroom window
If it were noon
there would be people making their way
Unquestionably
if night had beaten off bright day
Scrooge went to
bed again, and thought, and thought
And thought it
over and over and over as best he ought
The more he
thought, the more perplexed he became
The more he
tried not to think, he thought all the same
Jacob Marley's
Ghost still bothered him exceedingly
When he thought
of him a chill ran up his back icily
He resolved
within himself that it was all a dream
And that things
could not possibly be as they seem
His mind flew
back, like a strong spring released
“Was it a dream
or not?” his uneasiness hadn’t ceased
Scrooge lay
restless and uneasy in his four poster bed
Then Ebeneezer
suddenly recalled what Marley had said
He warned him
of a visitation when the bell tolled one
He resolved to
stay awake until the thing was done
“Ding, dong!” “A
quarter past,” said Scrooge, counting.
“Ding dong!” “Half
past!” said Scrooge almost shouting
“Ding dong!” “A
quarter to it,” Scrooge said nervously
“Ding dong!” “The
hour itself,” he said triumphantly
“And nothing
else!” He spoke before the hour was done
Which it then
did with a deep, hollow, melancholy one
Suddenly light
filled the room bright as dawn
And his bed
curtains were simultaneously drawn
VERSE 2 – AN
UNEARTHLY VISITATION
Scrooge was
startled into a half-recumbent position
Found himself
face to face with an unearthly visitation
It was a
strange figure almost like a child yet not so
And almost like
a very old man but not one though
The odd figure
was certainly of childlike proportion
Yet it was a
muscular and athletic looking apparition
It had long
flowing hair which was white as if with age
The beings
general demeanor was that of an old sage
Yet the face
had not a single wrinkle not even a trace
And the
tenderest bloom was on the creatures face
The figure held
a branch of fresh green holly in its hand
And its dress
was trimmed with a summer flower band
But the oddest
thing about it was the crown of light
It wore upon
its head spouting a jet clear and bright
And by the
crown on its head everything was visible
But it carried
a cap to make the light extinguishable
“Are you the
Spirit whose coming was foretold to me?”
Asked Scrooge “I
Am.” The soft voice replied gently
“What are you?”
“I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past”
“Long Past?”
inquired Scrooge curtly “No your past.”
Scrooge had a
special desire to see the cap on the Spirit
Over the
illuminating light and begged him to cover it
“Would you so
soon put out the light I give right now?
Eternally for
such as you, I wear it low upon my brow!”
Scrooge
disclaimed all intention of offending the spirit
Or any
knowledge of having made him wear a bonnet
Then boldly
inquired what business brought him there.
The ghostly
apparition calmly replied “Your welfare”
Regarding his
welfare Scrooge thought what was best
Was without a
doubt a long night of unbroken rest
He soon
realized that his thoughts The Spirit could read
For it then
said “Your reclamation, then so Take heed”
It put out its
strong hand and clasped Scrooge gently
Taking his arm
as he said “Rise and walk with me”
Ebeneezer
Scrooge was reluctant to leave his warm bed
The grasp,
gentle as a woman’s was not to be resisted
He was a little
alarmed wearing only his nightclothes
When the spirit
led him in the direction of the windows
He clasped his
robe in supplication “I am just a mortal,”
“Please spirit”
Scrooge remonstrated “I’m liable to fall”
The spirit said
“Bear a touch of my hand on your heart,”
“And you shall
be upheld in more than this lest we part.”
They passed
through the wall as the words were spoken
And stood on a
road with fields and all around was open
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 2 – THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS – Verse 3
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 3 -
SCHOOLDAYS
The city had
entirely vanished Nothing was to be seen
The darkness
and the mist had gone and all was clean
There was no
bustle and there was barely a sound
It was a clear,
winter day, with snow on the ground
“Heavens” said
Scrooge, clasping his hands together
As he looked
around “I was bred here I was a boy here”
The Spirit
watched him mildly, as he was absorbing
The sights and
sounds and smells that he was sensing
“Your lip is
trembling,” it said Scrooge couldn’t speak
The ghost continued “And what is that upon
your cheek?”
Scrooge only
muttered, an unusual catch in his voice
He begged the
Ghost to lead him to a place of his choice
“You recollect
the way?” inquired the amused Spirit
Ebeneezer
Scrooge cried with fervor “Remember it?”
“I could walk
it blindfolded I know it so well spirit”
Scrooge then again cried with fervor “Remember
it!”
“Strange then
to have forgotten it for so many years,”
The Ghost said,
“Let’s go on, you know the way it appears”
They walked
along the road the snow white and crunchy
And Scrooge
recognized every gate, and post, and tree
Then in the
distance vale a little market town appeared
With its
bridge, its church, and a river wound and veered
Some shaggy
ponies now were seen trotting their way
With boys on
their backs, and they were happy and gay
They called to
other boys in country gigs and buggy
All the boys
were in such great spirits shouting happily
“These are but
shadows of the things that have been,”
Said the Ghost.
“As real as they are we cannot be seen”
The jocund
travelers came in view and then were gone
As they came
Scrooge knew and named every one
Ebeneezer was
filled with joy as he stood to listen
It made his old
heart glad and his cold eye glisten
He wondered why
he was filled with such gladness
When they
wished each other a Merry Christmas
As they all
parted at the cross-roads and-bye ways
Heading for
their homes for the Christmas holidays
What was a
merry Christmas to Scrooge anyway?
What good had
it ever done for him? He might say
“The school is
not quite deserted,” said the spirit.
“A solitary
child, left by his friends, is left to sit”
Scrooge said he
knew that and he sobbed quietly
And he and the
spirit continued on the road slowly
They left the
main road, by a well-remembered lane
And soon came
to a mansion of red brick, dull and plain
It was quite a
large house but it had seen better days
Crumbling brick
and peeling paint on window bays
The walls all
ran with damp and green in a mossy way
The windows
were broken and everything was in decay
Fowls were
clucking and strutting outside of the class
And
coach-houses and sheds were over-run with grass
Throughout was
a musty odor of the ancient and old
Inside of the
dreary hall was poorly lit vast and cold
The Ghost and
Scrooge walked silently across the hall
To a room with
barely any noteworthy furnishings at all
Desks and forms
filled a long bare and melancholy room
On one of the
forms a lonely boy sat reading in the gloom
Scrooge sat
down upon a form overcome by melancholy
And wept to see
his poor forgotten self as he used to be
The Spirit
touched his shoulder to comfort his distress
“How sad it is
to be all alone and friendless at Christmas”
Scrooge
bristled at the thought of pitying his boyhood
But then how
could a mere shade ever have understood
“This youth had
self-reliance and strength of character
And he was
never alone while he had his books there”
Scrooge said “And
his friends were great and many
Ali Baba,
Robinson Crusoe and Friday as good as any”
He sat down
again once more overcome by melancholy
And wept to see
his poor forgotten self as he used to be
“I wish,” he
muttered, drying his eyes with his sleeve
“But it's too
late now to change that Christmas Eve”
“Whatever is
the matter?” asked the concerned Spirit
“Nothing,” said
Scrooge. “Nothing I’m happy to admit
Some boys were
Caroling at my door last nightfall
I should like
to have given them something that was all”
The Ghost
smiled thoughtfully, waved its hand thus
Saying as it
did so, “Let us see another Christmas!”
At the words
Scrooge's former self grew lankier
And the room
became a little darker and dirtier
But the
situation remained unchanged in other ways
Alone again,
with the other boys gone for the holidays
Not reading now
he was despairingly pacing the floor
While old
Scrooge glanced anxiously towards the door
It opened; and
a little girl, much younger than the boy
Came darting in
filling both old and young with joy
She put her
arms about his neck tight like a mother
Kissing him she
addressed him as “Dear, dear brother.”
She said “I
have come to bring you home dear brother!”
Clapping her
hands and laughing “Home, Ebeneezer!”
“Home, little
Fan?” young Ebeneezer said questioningly
“Yes! Home dear
brother” said the child, brimful of glee
“Yes home, for
good and all. Home, forever and ever
Father is so
much kinder than he used to be Ebeneezer
That home is
almost like Heaven!” Fan spoke so sweetly
“As I went to
bed one night Father spoke so gently to me
That I was not
afraid to ask him and indeed felt no dread
To ask once
more if you may come home, and yes he said
You should and
he sent me in a coach to bring you there”
She clapped her
hands and laughed “Home, Ebeneezer!”
“And you're to
be a man!” she said proud as a mother
“And you are
never to come back here dear brother
But first,
we're to be together for the whole Christmas
No one in the
world will have a merriest time than us”
“You are quite
a woman, little Fan!” exclaimed the boy
She clapped her
hands and laughed to show her joy
Then she began
to drag him, in childish eagerness
Towards the
door; and he could feel her happiness
And the happy
pair passed quickly through the door
And Master
Scrooge's trunk was then duly called for
With the trunk
tied on the carriage it was time to go
And the
carriage was away spraying frost and snow
“She was Always
a delicate creature”, the spirit offered
“A delicate
creature whom a breath might have withered,”
“But she had a
large heart!” the ghost added a complement
“So she had,
you're right” cried Scrooge in total agreement
“She died a
woman,” said the Ghost, “And she had, children.”
“One child,”
Ebeneezer Scrooge corrected the apparition
“Yes just one
child” said the Ghost. “Your nephew! Fred”
Scrooge seemed
uneasy in his mind “Yes” he said
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 2 – THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS – Verse 4
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 4 - OLD
FEZZIWIG’S
They had but
that moment left the school’s vicinity
And were then
in the busy thoroughfares of a city
Where shadowy
figures passed this way and that way
And many varied
carts and coaches battle in the Grey
It was plain
enough to see by the mode of decoration
In the shop
windows that it was Christmas time again
But it was the
evening time and all the streets were lit
Stopping by a
door Scrooge was asked if he knew it
“Know it!” said
Scrooge. “Was I not apprenticed there?”
They went in
and saw an old gentleman sat in a chair
At the sight of
the old gentleman in the Welsh wig
Scrooge cried
in great excitement giving a kind of jig
“Why, it's old
Fezziwig! Bless his heart alive again!”
He adjusted his
waistcoat as the clock struck seven
Fezziwig looked
at the clock and laid down his pen
He laughed to
himself and he closed his ledger then
Laughing in a
manner benevolent and comfortable
Called out
loudly in a voice oily, rich, fat and jovial
“Yo ho, there!
Ebeneezer! Dick!” he said in a bellow
Young
apprentice Scrooge appeared with his fellow
“Dick Wilkins”
said Scrooge to the Ghost “Bless me”
There he is. He
was much attached to me was Dicky”
“Yo ho, boys!”
said Fezziwig. “No more work to-night.
It’s Christmas
Eve, Dick. Christmas, Ebeneezer all right”
“So let’s have
the shutters up,” old Fezziwig cried
“Before you can
say Jack Robinson,” he said with pride
The two boys
went about their task with great vigor
Pursued by the
exuberant Fezziwig’s jovial figure
He skipped
about offering the occasional “Hilli- ho”
Or even a “Chirrup”
wherever the boys had to go
The room was
completely cleared of every moveable
Floor swept,
lamps trimmed and fire made as desirable
Then no sooner
was the room snug and warm in there
In came a
fiddler with music and climbed upon a chair
Then came Mrs.
Fezziwig, smiling vast and substantial
In came the
three Miss Fezziwig’s, beaming and lovable
And the
daughters suitors and then friends of the family
The cook and
housemaid and various other employees
Until
eventually the large room was full to overflowing
And the music
began in earnest, which led to dancing
There was cold
roast and boiled meat and beer a plenty
And the Fezziwig’s
danced as if they were only twenty
Shining in
every part of the dance like stars in heaven
Then the ball
broke up when the clock struck eleven
Either side of
the door the Fezziwig took up stations
And shook hands
with all offering seasons felicitations
When all the
guests had departed from the premises
They wished the
same to their two young apprentices
As the Fezziwig’s
made off chatting like they’d never stop
The lads went
to their beds, which were in the back-shop
During the
whole time of the unfolding merriment
His heart and
soul were with his former embodiment
He corroborated
everything, remembered everything
Enjoyed it all,
but his agitation was the strangest thing
It was only
went the boys bright faces turned away
That he
remembered the spirit who lighted the way
“A small
matter,” it said “To fill them with gratitude.”
“Small matter!”
echoed Scrooge in a bemused attitude
The Spirit
signed to him to listen to the two apprentices
Who were
pouring out their hearts to Fezziwig’s praises
Then the spirit
added, “Why! Is it so praise worthy!
He has spent
but a few pounds of your mortal money
“It isn't that
spirit” said Scrooge, heated by the remark
Speaking
unconsciously like his former self as a clerk
“It isn't that,
He has the power to make us happy or not
To make our
working life light or burdensome in out lot
A pleasure or a
toil. His words and looks could entune
The happiness
he gives, is as great as if it cost a fortune”
He felt the
Spirit's glance upon him and went silent
“What is the
matter?” asked the Ghost in amusement
“Nothing in
particular,” said Scrooge quite abruptly
“Something, I
think?” said the apparition insistently
“No,” said
Scrooge, “No. I should like to be able to
Speak to my
clerk now that's all Just a word or two”
As the younger
Scrooge turned down the lamps light
The older and
the Ghost stood side by side in the night
“My time grows
short,” observed the Spirit. “Quick!”
Then were once
again removed like in a magic trick
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 2 – THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS – Verses 5 to 6
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 5 – SWEET
YOUNG BELLE
Again Scrooge
saw himself a young man but older
A man in the
prime of life but His face was harsher
It did not wear
the rigid lines that his own face did
But there were
signs of avarice that could not be hid
He was not
alone, but sat beside a girl young and fair
Tears filled
her eyes and light sparkled on them there
“It matters
little,” she said, softly. “Very little to you”
“Another idol
has displaced me clearly in your view
And if it can
cheer and comfort you in time to come
As I would have
tried to do, then your idol is welcome
I have no just
cause to grieve. For what you have done”
“What Idol?” he
demanded she replied “A golden one.”
The younger
Scrooge turned away from the girl smartly
“This is the
great hypocrisy of life!” he said sharply
“There is
nothing on which it is so hard as poverty
Yet condemns
pursuit of wealth with such severity”
“You fear the
world too much,” she answered, gently
“All your other
hopes have merged together singly
I have seen
your nobler aspirations fall off one by one
Until now Gain
possessed you as it has now done?”
“What then?
Even if I have grown much wiser,” he said
“I am not
changed towards you.” She shook her head
“Am I?” his
question hung unanswered in the air
For a few
moments she sat thoughtfully silent there
She said, “Our
contract is an old one made long ago
Made when we
were both poor and content to be so,
Until in good
season we could” she continued softly
“Improve our
worldly fortune by our patient industry”
You are
changed. For when our contract was made
You were
another man entirely Ebeneezer I’m afraid
“I was a boy,”
he said impatiently. “We were children”
“But you are
different now to what you were then
Your own
feelings tell you that this is indeed true
With all this
understood Ebeneezer I can release you.”
“Have I ever
sought release?” Angrily he turned on her
She returned in
equal measure “In words? No. Never.”
“In what, then?”
“In a changed nature and a spirit altered
In another
different atmosphere of life” she answered
“In everything
that made my love of value in your sight
And In
everything that made your love of me feel right
Tell me
Ebeneezer If this had never been between us,”
The girl said
looking mildly at him but with steadiness
“Would you seek
me out and try to win me now? Ah, no!”
He seemed to
agree with her but he tried not to show
After a moment’s
thought “You think not?” he countered
“I would gladly
think otherwise if I could,” she answered
“Heaven knows.
When I have learned a Truth like this
I know how
strong and irresistible it must be to resist.
But if you were
free to-day, to-morrow, yesterday,
Can I believe
you would choose a dowerless girl, say?
You who weigh
everything by gain would not rebuff
In choosing
her, if for a moment you were false enough
To your one
guiding principle to do so, do I not know
That your
repentance and regret would surely follow?”
Then she said
sadly “I do; and I release you Ebeneezer
With a full
heart, for the love of him you once were.”
He was about to
speak; but with her head turned away
She resumed. “You
may have pain in this yes you may
But only for
the briefest time, and then it will seem
Its memory will
be dismissed as an unprofitable dream
From which it
happened well that you had awoken.
So may you be
happy in the life you have chosen.”
Then she left
him, and he stood gazing at the floor
“Spirit!” said
Scrooge; “I beg you show me no more!
Conduct me
home, why do you delight to torture me?”
The ghost then
exclaimed “One more shadow to see!”
“No more!”
cried Scrooge! “I don't wish to see it!
Show me no
more! I beg of you oh merciful spirit”
Despite his
appeals the spirit would have none
And they were
once again removed and it was done
They were then
in another scene and place, in a room
Not very large
or handsome, but a comfort filled room
Near to the
winter fire sat the beautiful girl again
Though not so
young the signs of beauty still remain
Scrooge
recognized Belle the instance that he saw her
Though she was
a comely matron sat with her daughter
There were
other children all making the noise of forty
All was happy
the mother and daughter laughed heartily
The scene was
then disturbed by a knocking at the door
And such a rush
immediately ensued across the floor
Then the
flushed and boisterous group returned rather
Louder than
ever, just in time to greet their father
Who came home
attended amid the great excitements
By a man laden
with Christmas toys and presents
Then the
shouting and struggling began in earnest
Under the
onslaught the poor porter did his best
To stand his
ground and to repel their advances
As they tried
to separate him from his packages
A good time was
had by all in the family parlor
As the noise
was lowered to an acceptable roar
“Belle,” said
the husband, turning to his wife smiling,
“I saw an old
friend of yours this afternoon darling”
“Who was it?”
she asked “Guess!” was his only reply
“Oh I don’t
know,” she said exasperated “How can I?”
“Just Guess
Belle” The laughing husband urged her
“Oh I really
don’t know” Belle began in despair
Then almost in
the same breath as she shook her head
And laughing as
he laughed she suddenly said
“Mr. Scrooge”
and laughed again “Oh I don’t know”
“Mr. Scrooge it
was. I passed by his office window
As it was not
shuttered and he had his candle lit
I could see him
clear and was curious I must admit
His partner
Marley lies on the point of death, I hear
And there he
sat quite alone I do believe my dear”
“Spirit!” said
Scrooge his voice breaking slightly
“Remove me from
this place.” He said pleadingly
“The shadows
are of things that have been you see,”
“That they are
what they are, do not blame me!”
“Remove me!”
Scrooge exclaimed, “I cannot bear it!”
He turned round
to the Ghost “Remove me please spirit
Then he turned
upon the ghost “Haunt me no longer”
As he noticed
the spirits light was glowing stronger
Scrooge seized
the extinguisher cap from the spirit
And tried to
put out the light that shone bright from it
The spirit was
covered but he could not dim the light
Which now
spilled upon the ground both left and right
He was overcome
by exhaustion and a sense of doom
And was vaguely
aware of being in his own bedroom
He gave the cap
a final squeeze to push the spirit deep
Then he reeled
to his bed and sank into a heavy sleep
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 3 – THE SECOND
OF THE THREE SPIRITS – Verses 1 to 3
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 1 – REAWAKENING
He woke in the
midst of a prodigiously tough snore
And sat up to
get his thoughts together once more
Scrooge had no
occasion at all to be told by anyone
That the church
bell was again upon the stroke of one
He felt that he
had awoken just at the right moment
To meet Jacob
Marley's second visitor to represent
But turned
uncomfortably cold as he became unsure
Which of his
curtains this new specter would draw
So decided he
would open every one himself instead
And lying down
again could see out all round the bed
Despite his
preparation the spirits arrival he still feared
But when the
Bell struck one, no apparition appeared
He was taken
with a fit of trembling wondering why
Five minutes,
ten minutes, fifteen minutes went by
Yet nothing
came and all this time, he lay on his bed
Then he saw
under the adjoining door a glow of red
He got the idea
that this glow must have appeared
At the time of
the clock striking the hour occurred
He slid into
his slippers and shuffled across the floor
And he
reluctantly approached the adjoining door
VERSE 2 – A
MOST CURIOUS VISITOR
The moment
Scrooge's hand was on the door opener
A strange voice
called his name, and bade him enter
He obeyed and
soon found himself in his own room
There was no
doubt though it lacked its normal gloom
It was the most
surprising transformation he’d seen
The walls and
ceiling were so hung with living green
That it looked
a perfect grove full of nature’s livery
With bright
gleaming berries glistening full and juicy
The crisp green
leaves of the holly, mistletoe, and ivy
Reflected the
light like mirrored stars small and shiny
And such a
mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney
Not seen since
well before the days of Jacob Marley
Heaped up on
the floor, to form a huge kind of throne
Were turkeys,
geese, game, poultry and meat on the bone
Sucking pigs,
mince pies and long wreaths of sausages
Plum-puddings,
chestnuts, apples, and juicy oranges
Pears,
twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch
That made the
room steam and smell of Christmas lunch
Upon the couch,
there sat a jolly Giant glorious to see:
Who bore a
glowing torch not unlike the horn of Plenty?
He held it high
to shed its light on Scrooge and more
As the little
man came peeping round the chamber door
“Come in, and
know me better, man.” said the ghost
He entered
timidly, and hung his head before his host
He was not the
dogged Scrooge he had been of old
And though the
Spirit's eyes were clear and not cold
He did not like
to meet them though they were kindly
“I am the Ghost
of Christmas Present Look upon me.”
The huge ghost
was clothed in one simple green mantle
And the robe
was bordered with white fur also simple
This flowing
garment hung so loosely on the figure
That its great
capacious breast was almost totally bare
Beneath the
ample folds of the green garments fur
Its feet were
just observable and they were also bare
And on its head
it wore no other covering than a wreath
Made of holly
set with shining icicles above and beneath
It had a genial
face and long free dark brown curly hair
Its sparkling
eyes and general demeanor had a joyful air
It wore an
antique scabbard around it coated in dust
But no sword
and the sheath was eaten up with rust
Scrooge
reverently stood with his back to the door
It said, “You
have never seen the like of me before!”
“Never,”
Scrooge made answer to it quite nervously
“Have you never
walked forth with any of my family?
Either younger
brothers or any of my elder brethren
Born in these
later years?” it persisted about its kin
“I don't think
I have I’m afraid not” he answered it
Then asked, “Have
you had many brothers, Spirit?”
“More than
eighteen hundred,” said the apparition
“A large family
for whom to have to make provision”
He muttered as
The Ghost of Christmas Present rose.
“Spirit,” said
Scrooge submissively and almost froze
“Conduct me
wherever you will oh ghostly apparition”
He continued “I
went forth last night on compulsion
And I learnt a
great lesson, which is working now spirit
To-night, what
you have to teach me, let me profit by it.”
“Touch my robe.”
The green giant soberly instructed
Scrooge did so,
and held fast and was thus transported
VERSE 3 – IN
THE CITY ON CHRISTMAS MORN
Holly,
mistletoe, red berries, ivy, game and poultry,
Meat, puddings
and punch, had all vanished instantly
And the room,
fire, night hour and the ruddy glowing
And they stood
in city streets on Christmas morning
It was cold,
bleak, biting weather with freezing fog
And the streets
were enveloped in thick Grey smog
The throng of
people could be heard in the street
Stamping hard
on the pavements to warm their feet
The house
fronts were black and the windows more so
Contrasting
with the smooth and white sheet of snow
In the road the
snow was dirtier and left in deep furrow
By carts and
beneath snow and ice the mud was yellow
There was
nothing very cheerful to see in this place
And yet there
was an air of cheerfulness you could trace
The people who
shoveled away snow were full of glee
Throwing
snowball their joviality was plain to see
Poulterer’s, fruiterers
and grocers were still just open
To accommodate
last minute ladies and gentlemen
The myriad of
jolly shopkeepers acted out their charade
Amidst all the
hustle and bustle of the last minute trade
Soon the bells
called good people to church and chapel
And away they
flocked through streets to answer the bell
And at the same
time scores of peoples began emerging
From scores of
bye-streets, lanes and nameless turning
And the
innumerable people all talking ten to the dozen
Were carrying
their dinners to cook in the bakers' oven
The sight of
these poor revelers interested the Spirit
For outside the
bakers he stopped and stood beside it
And taking off
the covers as their bearers passed by
Sprinkled
incense on the dinners from his torch up high
It was a very
uncommon kind of torch, for once or twice
When the
behavior of dinner-carriers was not very nice
He shed drops
of water on them from his horn of plenty
And their good
humor was once again restored directly
They said, it
was a shame to quarrel on Christmas Day
Scrooge was
curious to know what changed their way
In time the
bells ceased, and the bakers were closed
And the late
churchgoers stride out smartly clothed
Scrooge got up
courage to enquire of his companion
“Is there a
peculiar flavor,” he asked of the apparition
“In what you
sprinkle from your torch like cone?”
The ghost
looked at Scrooge “Yes there is. My own.”
“Would it apply
to any kind of dinner on this day?”
“To any kindly
given. To a poor one most. I would say”
“Why to a poor
one most?” asked Scrooge enquiringly.
“Because it
needs it most.” The spirit answered curtly
“Spirit,” after
a moment's thought Scrooge spoke thus,
“I wonder you,
of all the beings in the worlds about us
Should desire
to stop these people's innocent enjoyment.”
“I!” cried the
spirit incredulously “I desire to prevent?”
“You deprive
them of their means of dining every Sunday
The spirit
cried “I!” and scrooge said, “Yes I would say?”
“You seek to
close these places on the Seventh Day,”
Said Scrooge. “And
it comes to the same thing in a way”
“I seek!”
exclaimed the Spirit “If I am wrong forgive me
It’s done if
not in your name, then in that of your family,”
“There are some
upon this earth” returned the apparition
“Who claim to
know us, and do their deeds of passion,
Pride,
ill-will, hatred, envy, and bigotry in our name,
Who are strange
to us and our kith and kin all the same
Remember, and
put the blame on themselves, not us.”
Scrooge
promised and apologized for all the fuss
And they went
on, invisible, as they had been before
Into the
suburbs of the town and stopped beside a door
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 3 – THE SECOND
OF THE THREE SPIRITS – Verses 4 to 5
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 4 – IN
CAMDEN TOWN
They stood in
Camden Town outside a poor man’s door
It was the home
of Bob Cratchit’s they stood before
The spirit
indicated to Scrooge that they would enter
Scrooge held
the spirits robe with boney hand and finger
The Spirit
stopped on the threshold of the door smiling
With a sprinkle
from his torch he blessed Bob’s dwelling
Just think, a
fifteen bob a week clerk of no consequence
Has the Ghost
of Christmas Present bless his residence
Once inside the
four roomed house in Camden Town
They saw Bob’s
wife, dressed in a twice-turned gown
Though not
dressed in the height of fashion, indeed poorly
Brave in
ribbons, which for sixpence decorate cheaply
And she laid
the tablecloth, assisted ably by Belinda
Also brave in
ribbons who was her second daughter
While Master
Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into a pot
In search of a
potato to see if it was cooked or not
And now two
smaller Cratchit’s, boy and girl, tore in
“We smelt the
goose at the bakers” they were screaming
Soon all the
young Cratchit’s danced about the table
All squealing
in excitement with a hop and gambol
This went on
until the slow potatoes began bubbling
Knocking loudly
at the saucepan-lid noisily cooking
“Wherever has
your father got too what’s keeping him?”
Said Mrs.
Cratchit “And your dear brother, Tiny Tim”
And Martha
wasn't as late as this last Christmas Day”
“Here's Martha,
mother,” said a girl unbarring her way
The two young
Cratchit’s cried, “Mother here's Martha!”
“Why, bless
your heart alive, my dear, how late you are!”
Kissing her
daughter a dozen times, Mrs. Cratchit said
While taking
off her shawl and the bonnet off her head
“We'd a deal of
work to finish up last night,” said Martha
“And we had to
clear it away this morning, mother”
Mrs. Cratchit
said “Never mind so long as you are here “.
“Sit down
before the fire and have a warm, my dear”
“Father’s
coming,” the two young Cratchit’s loudly cried
They were
everywhere at once. “Hide, Martha, hide!”
So Martha hid
herself, and in came Bob, the father,
In his
comforter and with Tiny Tim upon his shoulder
He set down the
boy who used a crutch tiny as his name
And had to have
his limbs supported by an iron frame
“Why, where's
our Martha?” cried Bob looking round
“Not coming,”
said Mrs. Cratchit staring at the ground
“Not coming!”
said Bob, “Not coming” his wife said
“Not coming on
Christmas Day?” he hung his head
Martha didn't
like to see the disappointed on his face
Even in a joke
so she came out from her hiding place
And she ran
into her father’s arms and embraced him
While the two
young Cratchit’s carried young Tiny Tim
Off into the
washhouse that he might hear the pudding
As it boils
violently in the copper there loudly singing
When Bob had
hugged his daughter to his heart's content
Then hugged his
wife whom he neglected in his merriment
“And how did
little Tim behave?” asked Mrs. Cratchit
Watched only by
Ebeneezer Scrooge and the spirit
“As good as
gold,” said Bob, “And better my dear
He gets
thoughtful so much by himself sitting here
And thinks the
strangest things you’ve heard honestly
When we were
coming home he said to me earnestly
That he hoped
that the people in the church saw him
As he was a
cripple, as it may be pleasant for them
To remember on
this Christmas Day, he told me
Who it was made
the lame walk, and blind men see.”
Bob's voice
trembled when he told this news to her
And more so as
he said Tiny Tim grew much stronger
His active
little crutch was heard noisily upon the floor
And Tiny Tim
appeared through the wash house door
He was led to
his fireside stool by his brother and sister
Bob put a jug
of gin and lemons on the hob to simmer
Peter and the
young Cratchit's went to fetch the goose
Returning from
the bakers with it spitting in its juice
Such a bustle
ensued at the returning goose procession
That you may
have thought a goose the rarest acquisition
Mrs. Cratchit
made gravy hissing hot and full of flavor
Master Peter
mashed potatoes with incredible vigor
Belinda made
the apple-sauce Martha dusted plates
Bob took Tiny
Tim beside him at the table and waits
The two young
Cratchit’s set the chairs for everyone
At last dishes
were set, and grace was said and done
It was
succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs. Cratchit,
Looking at the
carving-knife, prepared to plunge it
In the breast
of the modest goose, but when she did
The gush of
stuffing issued from where it had been hid
One murmur of
delight arose all-round the family table
One and all
beat on the table with the their knife handle
And all cried
Hurrah! As the festivities were let loose
Bob said in all
sincerity “There never was such a goose”
Indeed Its
tenderness and flavor, size and cheapness
Were the themes
of universal admiration and happiness
Eked out by
apple-sauce and mashed potatoes all agreed
It was a
sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed
Mrs. Cratchit
said surveying a scrap with great delight
That they
hadn't eaten everything to the very last bite
Yet everyone
had had enough which plainly satisfies
And all were
stuffed with sage and onion to the eyes
The dirty
plates were cleared away by Miss Martha
And then the
clean plates being laid by Miss Belinda
Mrs. Cratchit
left the room alone to fetch the pudding
From the wash
house and bring it to the table steaming
Suppose it
should not be done enough? Well it ought
Suppose it
should be done too much? No she thought
Suppose it
should break in turning out? Oh damn it
Suppose
somebody should have got in and stolen it
All was merry
with the goose and gave satisfaction
But all sorts
of horrors plagued her in her supposition
The pudding was
out of the copper and steaming
In half a
minute she returned flushed, but smiling
With the
pudding looking like a speckled cannon-ball
Hard and firm,
blazing in brandy and holly atop it all
Oh, a wonderful
pudding! Bob said, and calmly too
Though it was
the greatest success ever in his view
Mrs. Cratchit
said it was a weight off her mind really
She confessed
she had doubts about the flour quantity
Everybody had
something to say about it, but nobody
Said or thought
it was a small pudding for a large family
At last the
dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared
The hearth
swept, and the fire made up until it roared
The gin and
lemons were tasted and passed acceptable
And a plate of
apples and oranges were put on the table
Then a
shovel-full of chestnuts were then put on the fire
And all the
family drew around the hearth like a choir
At Bob’s elbow
stood the family set of glass on display
Plus two
tumblers and a cup with handle broke away
These held the
gin and lemons from the jug, however
A set of golden
goblets could not have done better
Bob served out
the hot punch while beaming happily
As the
chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily
Then Bob
Cratchit reverently proposed a toast thus
“A Merry
Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us.”
Which the
family re-echoed “God bless us every one!”
Said Tiny Tim,
the last to say when the others had done.
He sat close to
his father's side upon his little chair
Holding his
withered hand he gave the hand a stare
Loving his son
and wishing to keep him by his side
His dread that
he might lose him he could not hide
“Spirit,” said
Scrooge with previously unfelt interest
“Tell me if
Tiny Tim will live.” He asked in earnest
“I see a vacant
seat,” replied the Ghost, “In the corner
And a crutch
carefully preserved without an owner
The child will
die if these shadows remain unaltered”
“No,” said
Scrooge. “Kind Spirit. Say he will be spared.”
“If these
shadows do remain unaltered by the Future,
The ghost said,
“None other of my race will find him here”
“What then? If
he be like to die” continued the apparition
“He had better
do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
Scrooge hung
his head low in penitence and disbelief
To hear his own
words and was overcome with grief
“You should
hold your tongue and not speak wickedly
Until you
discover what the surplus is, and where it be.”
Scrooge cowered
and could not meet the spirit’s eye
“And will you
decide who shall live and who shall die?
It may be, you
are more worthless in the sight of Heaven
And less fit to
live than millions of poor men's children”
Scrooge bent
low before the Ghost's rebuke trembling
But raised his
eyes speedily on hearing Bob speaking
“Mr. Scrooge!”
said Bob addressing them like a priest
“I'll give you
Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!”
“The Founder of
the Feast indeed! I wish I had him here
I'd give him a
piece of my mind to feast upon, my dear
And I hope he
would have a very good appetite for it.”
Finished the
volatile and reddening Mrs. Cratchit
“My dear,” said
Bob, “The children. Christmas Day.”
“It should be
Christmas Day, I am sure I would say,
On which one
drinks the health of such an odiously
Unfeeling man
as Mr. Scrooge so cruel hard and stingy
Nobody knows
better than you about Scrooges way”
“My dear,” was
Bob's mild answer, “Christmas Day.”
“I'll drink his
health for your sake and the Day's,”
Said Mrs.
Cratchit, “Not for him and his miserable ways
Long life a
merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
He’ll be very
merry and very happy, I’m quite sure”
The children
drank the toast after her long address
It was the
first of their rituals having no heartiness
Tiny Tim drank
last of all, but didn't care much for it
Scrooge was the
ogre of the whole family of Cratchit
Mention of his
name cast a dark shadow on the party
Lasting full
five minutes until they were again hearty
After it had
passed away, they were ten times merrier
With thought of
Scrooge behind them they were happier
Bob Cratchit
told them how he had in his eye a situation
For Master
Peter, which would bring in, as contribution
If obtained,
full five-and-sixpence weekly for their son
Which that sums
receipt would be a bewildering income
The rest of the
time passed by in family conversation
While chestnuts
and jug went round without cessation
Martha, who was
an apprentice at a millinery locally
Told them what
kind of work had kept her so busy
And by-and-bye
there were songs sung quite by choice
Even Tiny Tim,
who had a very plaintive little voice
They were not
remarkable they were quite ordinary
They were not a
handsome or a well-dressed family
Their shoes
were far from being proof against weather
Scanty clothed
and were not strangers to the pawnbroker
But, were
happy, grateful, pleased with one another
And contented
with their lot and their time together
They left the
Cratchit family in their happy reveling
The spirit gave
a sprinkle from his torch in parting
And Ebeneezer
Scrooge had kept his eye upon them
Until the very
last moment and especially on Tiny Tim
By this time it
was getting dark, and snowing heavily
And as they
went along the spirit used his torch merrily
Brightness
spilled from each kitchen or parlor window
Doors open to
welcome visitors to the fireside glow
Every person
they passed received a liberal sprinkling
Of the spirits
torch his eyes were constantly twinkling
Even the
lamplighter received a blessing that night
As he ran the
dusky streets dotting them with light
And so it was
the spirit blessed all who came before
Then suddenly
they stood on a bleak deserted moor
Monstrous
masses of rude stone were cast randomly
A course barren
place where the wind moaned eerily
“What place is
this?” asked Scrooge uneasy at the sound
“A place where
Miners live, who labor underground”
Returned the
Spirit. “But they know me. Look and see.”
A light shone
out from the window of a hut distantly
Swiftly they
moved to it as the wind continued to moan
And they passed
through the wall of mud and stone
Inside the
dwelling they found a cheerful company
Made up of
several generations of the same family
They were all
happily assembled round a glowing fire
And everyone
was decked out gaily in holiday attire
The oldest man
led them in the Christmas singing
As loud and
hearty at the end as in the beginning
Then they
passed through the mud wall once more
To once again
stand upon the grim desolate moor
The Spirit and
Scrooge did not however tarry here
They sped away
with Scrooge tried to hide his fear
To Scrooge's
horror they flew off across the dark sea
Looking back,
he saw the last of the land fading quickly
Below were
ragged rocks pounded by thundering waves
There treachery
sending many men to watery graves
Built on this
reef of sunken rock and out cropping
There stood a
solitary lighthouse to warn all shipping
But even out
here, the two men who watched the light
Had made a fire
and were making merry on the holy night
Again the Ghost
sped on, above the black heaving sea
On until far
from shore they saw a ship blown fiercely
They lighted on
the ship and stood beside the helmsman
Who fought with
the wheel watched by a midshipman
But every man
of them as against the wind they fought
Hummed a
Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought
Or spoke to a
companion of some bygone Christmas Day
And every man
on board spoke in a much friendlier way
Then the ship
suddenly faded away and the wind died
And laughter
pervaded as they stood under a city sky
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 3 – THE SECOND
OF THE THREE SPIRITS – Verses 6 to 7
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 6 – A
VISIT TO FRED’S
They stood
outside a house were laughter emanated
Then he and the
spirit into the house they permeated
It was a
bright, gay, gleaming room that met their view
To his surprise
the laughter came from his nephew
Scrooge stood
with the Spirit who was smiling happily
Looking at
Scrooge’s nephew with approving affability
“Ha, ha!”
laughed Scrooge's nephew. “Ha, ha, ha!”
It would be
hard to find a man to laugh heartier
If a man more
blessed in a laugh than his nephew
Existed then
Scrooge would want to know him too
His head rolled
and he shook his ample proportions
And twisted his
face into extravagant contortions
Scrooge's
niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he
And their
assembled friends also roared out lustily
“Ha, ha, ha,
ha!” “He said that,” cried his nephew
“Christmas was
a humbug, as I live! He believed it too.”
“More shame for
him, Fred.” said his wife indignantly
Scrooge forgave
her, as she was exceedingly pretty
With a dimpled
peaches and cream complexion
And a smile
that gave her the sunniest disposition
“He's a comical
old fellow,” said Fred affectionately
“That’s the
truth: and not as pleasant as he might be.
However, his
offenses carry their own punishment,
And I have
nothing to say against him in testament”
Then his wife
said “I'm sure he is very rich, Fred,”
“At least you
always tell me that is so.” She hinted
Fred said to
her in reply “What of that, my dear?”
“His wealth is
of absolutely no use to him at all I fear”
Fred continued “He
doesn't do any good with it.
And he doesn't
make himself comfortable with it.
He hasn't even
the satisfaction of thinking so far
That he is ever
going to benefit us with it” ha, ha, ha!
“I have no
patience with him,” Scrooges niece said
Her sisters,
and the ladies, expressed the same to Fred
“Oh, I have”
Fred said to everyone with some pride
I’m sorry for
him I couldn't be angry with him if I tried
After all who
is it who really suffers by his ill whim?”
Answering his
own question Fred said “Always him”
Here, Uncle
Scrooge takes it into his head to dislike us,
And he won't
come and dine with us every Christmas.
And the result?
He misses out on a moderate dinner”
Fred said to
the room smiling broadly like a sinner
“I think he
loses out on a very good dinner, indeed”
Interrupted his
wife and everyone in the room agreed
“Well. I'm very
glad to hear it,” he said of his slurs
“Because I lack
faith in these young housekeepers”
Pausing for a
hearty laugh “What do you say, Topper?”
Topper clearly
had his eye on the little plump sister
He answered
what a wretched outcast was a bachelor
With no right
to an opinion on the subject set before
His obvious
admiration went from her hair to her boots
Where upon the
plump niece blushed to her roots
“Do go on,
Fred,” his wife said with hands clapping
Scrooge's
nephew reveled in another fit of laughing
He stifled the
laugh and said, “I was only going to say
That the
consequence of his taking dislike to us this way
And not making
merry with us, is, that he loses many
Pleasant
moments, which could do him no harm surely.
Losing
pleasanter companions than he can find ever
In his
thoughts, either in his office or his chamber
So I mean to
give him the same chance every year,
Whether he
likes it or not, for I pity my uncle dear.
He may rail at
Christmas all he likes until he dies
But year after
year I will continue until he complies”
The festivities
continued with the happy company
Merriment
abounded and the bottle passed joyously
After tea they
had music with songs about the piano
Fred wife
played well on the harp tunes from long ago
With the music
Scrooge recalled what he had seen
What the Ghost
had shown him and where he’d been
It all came
upon his mind all what had gone before
And with the
gay music he softened more and more
But they didn't
devote the whole evening to music
Topper was
encouraged to perform a magic trick
Then they
played parlor games for amusement
First blind man’s
bluff caused such great merriment
With topper
clearly cheating as pursued high and low
The plump
sister catching her beneath the mistletoe
Blind-man’s
buff was not the game for Scrooges niece
Who was
comfortably in a corner safe and in peace
With footstool
and large comfy chair in a snug corner
Where the Ghost
and Scrooge were close behind her
But she however
excelled when she joined in forfeits
And warmed
Scrooges heart and raised his spirits
She beat them
all hollow from her large comfy chair
And likewise at
the game of How, When, and Where
There might
have been twenty people there present
Young and old,
but they all joined in the merriment
Even Scrooge,
who forgot he wasn’t there at the party
And shouted the
answers ever more loud and hearty
But despite
Scrooge quite often getting the answers
Often very
loudly his voice made no sound in their ears
This didn’t
bother him and he didn’t think it to be rude
The Ghost was
very pleased to find him in this mood
Scrooge
intimated that he would be broken hearted
If he were not
allowed to stay until the guests departed
But this the
Spirit told Scrooge could not be done
“One more game,”
said Scrooge. “Please Spirit, only one.”
So they stayed
for one more Game called Yes and No
And when the
game was over it was time for them to go
Before Scrooges
eyes the room before him unravels
And he and the
Spirit were again upon their travels.
Much they saw,
and far they went, people to attend
Many homes they
visited, but always a happy end
The Spirit
stood by sick beds, and they were cheerful
Comforting the
old and frail and those who were fearful
On foreign
lands, and at home; beside struggling men,
Those patient
in their hope; by poverty, and rich again
In almshouse,
hospital, workhouse treadmill and jail
In misery's
every refuge where people try and fail
Where vain man
in his little brief authority no doubt
Had not made
fast the door and barred the Spirit out
He left his
blessing, and taught Scrooge his precepts.
And not lost on
Scrooge were the spirits concepts
It was a long
night, if only a night which he doubted
Scrooge had now
seen his error and his heart shouted
It was strange,
that while Scrooge appeared unaltered
The Ghost grew
older, clearly and his voice faltered.
Scrooge had
seen this change, but never spoke of it,
Until leaving a
children's party he addressed the spirit
“Are spirits'
lives so short?” he asked gravely his host
“My life on
this globe, is very brief,” replied the Ghost
“It ends
to-night.” It said and Scrooge replied “To-night!”
“My time upon
this earth ends To-night at midnight
The time draws
near.” He said neath the clock tower
“Hark!” and the
chimes rang a quarter to the hour
“Forgive me for
asking” said Scrooge in puzzlement
He was looking
intently at the spirits long garment
“But I see
something strange down there on the floor
Protruding from
your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw?”
“It might be a
claw, for all the flesh there is on it,”
Was its
sorrowful reply. “Look here.” Said the spirit
From the folds
of its robe, it brought two creatures
Children,
wretched, abject, with frightful features
They knelt down
at its feet, and clung on in fear
“Oh, Man, look
here! Look, look, down here!”
Exclaimed the
Ghost. To Scrooge who was nervous
It was a boy
and girl though it was not obvious
“Spirit, are
they yours?” Scrooge could say no more.
“They are
Man's,” It said looking at them on the floor
“Appealing from
their fathers they cling to me there
This boy is
Ignorance. This girl is Want. So beware”
His voice was
grave and solemn and held no joy
“Beware them
both, but most of all beware this boy
For on his brow
I see that the word doom is written
Unless the
writing be erased beware these children”
The spirit
cried stretching its hand toward the city
“If you deny
it! Or slander those who tell it to ye.
Admit it for
your factious purposes, or defend
And then make
it worse. And you will abide the end.”
“Have they no
refuge or resource?” Scrooge cried.
“Are there no
prisons?” ironically the Spirit replied,
“Are there no
workhouses?” for the very last time
Using his own
words on him at the midnight chime
At the stroke
of the bell Scrooge looked all about
But the ghost
was gone he was alone without doubt
As the last
stroke ceased he lifted up his eyes to see
He suddenly
remembered the prediction of Marley
And beheld a
solemn draped and hooded apparition
Coming, like a
mist along the ground, in his direction
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 4 – THE LAST OF
THE SPIRITS – Verses 1 to 2
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 1 – THE PHANTOM OF THE FUTURE
The Phantom
approached slowly, gravely, silently
When it came,
Scrooge bent down upon his knee
For the very
air which this spirit moved through
It seemed to
scatter gloom and mystery in his view
The phantom was
shrouded in a deep black uniform
Which concealed
its head and face its limbs and form
And left
nothing visible save one outstretched hand
Scrooge managed
to summon up the courage to stand
It was not easy
to separate the figure from the night
By the virtue
that it was surrounded by a lack of light
Though it was
tall and stately fear filled Scrooge’s head
And the
presence of it filled him with a solemn dread
Surprisingly it
was a very motionless and silent spirit
And reluctantly
Scrooge was prompted to question it
“Are you the
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?” he said
The Spirit did
not answer, but nodded with its head
“You will show
me things that have not happened yet,
But will happen
in the time before us, is that so, Spirit?”
The slightest
movement of its head could be perceived
An inclination
was the only answer Scrooge received
Although by
this time well used to ghostly company
Scrooge feared
the dark and silent phantom greatly
So much so that
his legs trembled beneath his body
And when he
prepared to follow it his steps were heavy
Scrooge
exclaimed, “I fear you Ghost of the Future!”
More than any
spirit I have seen more than any specter
But as I know
spirit that to do me good is your plan
And as I hope
to live my life and to be another man
From what I
was, I am prepared to bear you company,
And do it with
a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?”
It gave him no
reply. The hand pointed straight on
“Lead on
spirit,” said Scrooge tiredly. “Just Lead on.
The night is
waning fast, and it is precious time to me,
So lead on” The
Phantom moved off effortlessly
VERSE 2 – THE PLACE OF MERCHANT’S
The phantom’s
shadow seemed to carry Scrooge along
Then suddenly
they were in amongst the city’s throng
They didn’t
enter it they just seemed to enter the city
The city
actually sprang up about them in reality
But they were
in its heart amongst the merchants
With the
chinking of money and mongers chants
The Spirit
stopped beside a knot of businessmen
They were known
to Scrooge who’d met them often
Observing the
spirit stop Scrooge halted his walk
The spirit
pointed so Scrooge listened to their talk.
“No,” said a
great fat man with an even fatter head,
“I don't know
much about it, I only know he's dead.”
“When did he
die?” inquired another. “Last night”
The general
tone was not at all grave but rather light
“What was the
matter with him?” asked a third,
“I thought he'd
never die.” Not even a little absurd
“God knows,”
said the first, yawning in assent
“What about his
money?” asked a red-faced gent
“I haven't
heard, perhaps he left it to his company”
He said “All I
know is that he hasn't left it to me.”
They responded
with a laugh to this pleasantry
“It will be a
very cheap funeral more than likely,”
Said the same
speaker “For on my life I don't know
Of anybody who
knew him who would want to go,
I suppose we
could make up a party and volunteer?”
“Only if a
lunch is provided,” said one with a sneer
And then
another laugh echoed around the mall
“Well, I am the
most disinterested of you, after all,”
Said the first speaker,
“I never ever eat lunch and
Black gloves
are never ever seen upon my hand
But I will
offer to go, if somebody else will also
I think I was
his most particular friend you know”
With that the
group broke up going separate ways
And the
speakers and the listeners strolled away
To mix with
other groups. Scrooge knew the men
And looked
towards the Spirit for some explanation
The Phantom did
not speak yet glided on to a street
Its finger
pointed to where two persons would meet
Scrooge
listened, thinking it maybe the explanation
He knew these
men who were now in conversation
They were great
men of business and very wealthy
Of great
importance and of good opinion worthy
Scrooge made a
point of standing well in their esteem
But only in a
business point of view it would seem
“How are you?”
said one of the men “How are you?”
Returned the
other. “Well!” said the first to be true
“Well Old
Scratch has got his own at last, then hey.”
“So I’m told,”
returned the second. “And so they say”
“Cold, isn't it?”
Said the first of the business men
“Seasonable for
Christmas. Do you like skating”?
“No. No.
Something else to think of. Good morning.”
Not another
word was said, that was their meeting,
That was their
conversation, and then their parting.
Scrooge was
surprised the Spirit thought important
Conversations
apparently so trivial and insignificant
But feeling
assured they must have some relevancy
He set himself
to consider what it was likely to be
He reasoned
they had no bearing on Marley’s demise
Jacob died in
the past so he didn’t see how it applies
He could not
think of any person connected to him
And was at a
loss to explain what had provoked them
But he did not
doubt there was in the scenes content
Some moral to
be learned for his own improvement
He resolved to
treasure what he saw and every word
And to observe
his shadow and act on what he heard
For he decided
that the conduct of his future entity
Would render
him the solution of these riddles easy
He looked about
the merchants for his own figure
But another man
stood in his corner in the future
But before the
significance of this could sink in
The phantom
stood beside him its hand pointing
When he roused
himself from his thoughtful quest
And turned his
full attention to his phantom guest
He felt the
unseen eyes were looking at him keenly
It made him
shudder, and feel very cold suddenly
They left the
busy scene both familiar and renowned
And went
instantly into an obscure part of the town
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 4 – THE LAST OF
THE SPIRITS – Verses 3 to 5
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 3 – OLD
JOE’S
Scrooge had
never been here before and it didn’t suit
Although he
knew it’s situation, and its bad repute
The ways were
foul and narrow the houses squalid
The people
wretched, drunken, ugly and slipshod
Offensive
smells were disgorged from every alley
The whole
quarter reeked of crime, filth, and misery
Far in this den
of infamy was a rag and bone shop
To Scrooges
surprise it was here that he had to stop
The floor
within the shop had piles and heaps upon
Of rusty keys,
nails, chains, hinges, and refuse iron
Sitting in
among what he dealt in, by a charcoal stove
Was a seventy
five year old and gray-haired cove
Screened from
the cold air behind a curtain of rags
And smoked his
pipe amidst piles of clothes and bags
The Phantom
entered with Scrooge close by his side
Just as a woman
with a heavy bundle slunk inside
But she had
scarcely entered, when another woman
Similarly laden
came in closely followed by a man
It was clear
that all four were known to each other
And they stood
embarrassed eyeing one another
Then after
quite a short period of blank astonishment
They all three
burst into a laugh of nervous merriment
“Let the
charwoman go first!” cried the first woman
“The laundress
second and third the undertaker's man
After all Joe
here’s a chance that all three haven’t met”
She continued “All
together without us meaning it!”
“You couldn't
have met in a better place,” said old Joe
And removed his
pipe from his mouth and said, “Let’s go
Come into the
parlor, let me just shut the shop door
How it shrieks,
there’s nothing here that’s rusted more
And I'm sure
there's no bones here old as mine. Ha, ha!
We're suited to
our calling, we're well matched we are
Come into the
parlor then all it’s a cold, cold night
Come into the
parlor.” Joe said, “I’ll trim the light”
They all
followed after the old rag and bone broker
The old man
then raked the fire over with a poker
While he did
this, the woman who had already spoken
Threw her
bundle on the floor as a gesture or token
Then she sat
down in a flaunting manner on a chair
And then she
gave her two companions a defiant stare
“Well what odds
then. Mrs. Dilber.” said the woman.
“Everyone has a
right to look to themselves if they can.
He always did.”
She said in a tone of self-righteousness
“True, indeed,
No man more so” said the laundress
“Why then,
who's to be the wiser? And who knows?
We're not going
to pick holes in each other, I suppose?”
“No, indeed,”
said Mrs. Dilber and the man together
“We should hope
not.” Said the solemn old undertaker
“Very well,
then! Who's the worse, goodness knows
For the loss of
these things? Not a dead man, I suppose.”
“No, indeed,”
said Mrs. Dilber, laughing nervously anew
“If he wanted
to keep them after death, wicked old screw,”
Pursued the
woman, “Why wasn't he more natural in life?
If he had been,
he'd have had somebody in his strife
To look after
him when he was struck with death,
Instead of
lying alone gasping out his last breath”
“It's true it's
a judgment on him,” said Mrs. Dilber.
The woman
replied “I wish it had been a bit heavier
And it would
have been, you may depend upon it,
If I could have
lain my hands on more I will admit
Open the
bundle, old Joe, and let me know the value
You can speak
plain old Joe in front of those two
I'm not afraid
to be the first, nor for them to see
Come on then
old Joe open the bundle and tell me
We knew we were
helping ourselves before we met
I believe. It's
no sin. Open the bundle, Joe. Let’s see it”
But the
gallantry of her friends would not allow her
And the man
stepped forward and produced his plunder
It wasn’t much,
a pair of sleeve-buttons, a seal or two
A pencil case
and a brooch all of them no great value.
Old Joe
severely examined and appraised them all
Then chalked
the sum he was to give on the wall
“That's yours
done, and not another penny or so
Not if I was to
be boiled for not doing it.” Said Joe
“Who's next?”
Mrs. Dilber was next. Sheets and towel,
Sugar tongs,
silver tea spoons, a little wearing apparel,
Her account was
stated on the wall in the same way
“I always give
too much to ladies it’s the price I pay
It's my
weakness and that's the way I ruined myself,
That's yours
said Joe putting the goods on the shelf
If you asked me
for a penny more than I’ve writ down
I'll repent of
being so liberal and knock off half-a-crown.”
“And now undo
my bundle, Joe,” said the first woman.
Joe went down
on his knees difficult for an old man
And undid the
bundle revealing something uncertain
“What do you
call this?” said old Joe. “A Bed-curtain?”
“Ah”! She
replied leaning forward her face cracking
“Bed-curtains Joe”
continued the woman, laughing
“You don’t mean
to say you took them down, so
Rings and all
with him lying there?” asked old Joe
“Yes I do,”
replied the woman. “Why not though?”
“You were born
to make your fortune,” said Joe,
Joe laughed
heartily “and you will certainly do it.”
“I certainly
shan't hold my hand, when I can get
Anything in it
by reaching, for the sake of a so and so
Such a man as
he was, I promise you that old Joe,”
Returned the
woman. Joe examined the next item
“Don't drop oil
upon the blankets, don’t spoil them”
“His blankets?”
asked Joe. “Whose would they be?”
She replied “He
won’t get a chill without them, will he?”
“I hope he
didn't die of anything catching. Eh?”
Said old Joe,
stopping in his work, and looking at her
“Don't you be
afraid of that, if he did” said the woman.
“I wasn’t so
fond of him that I'd loiter with the man
And you may
look through that shirt till your eyes ache
You’ll find no
hole, nor threadbare place and no mistake
It's the very
best he had, and a fine one too as you see
And they'd have
wasted it, if it hadn't been for me.”
“And what do
you call wasting of it?” asked old Joe.
“Putting it on
him to be buried in, don’t you know”
She said with a
laugh “Somebody was fool enough
To put it on,
but I took it off and dressed him in rough
If calico ain't
good enough for the purpose of burying
It isn't good
enough for anything. It's quite as becoming”
She said, “He
can't look uglier than he did in that one.”
Scrooge
listened to this horrified at what they’d done
As they sat
grouped about their spoil, in the scanty light
He was filled
with detestation and disgust at the sight
“Ha, ha!”
laughed the same woman, as Joe paid out
Laughter still
rang in his ears as they went without
“Spirit,” said
Scrooge, shuddering from head to toe
“I see, the
case of this man might be my own I know”
Shaking with
rage and fear “I know” he began again
“My life tends
that way, now. Oh Merciful Heaven,”
“What is this?”
he said fearing that he was deranged
And he recoiled
in terror, for the scene had changed
They stood in a
room by a bare and un-curtained bed
On which,
beneath a ragged sheet lay something dead
The room was
very, very dark, too dark to see clear
But Scrooge
glanced round anyway driven by fear
A shaft of pale
moonlight fell straight upon the bed
The Phantom
steady hand was pointed to the head
Scrooge looked
at the phantom then again at the man
The plundered
and bereft, unwept and uncared for man
The sheet was
so loosely arranged that any movement
Would have
exposed the cadaver’s embodiment
Scrooge thought
of how easy it would be to do it
But was as
powerless to do so as to dismiss the spirit
Though he was
willing He could not expose the face
“Spirit,”
Scrooge said, “This is a cold fearful place.
I shall not
leave this lesson, trust me. Let us not linger.”
Still the Ghost
pointed to the head with a bony finger
“I understand
you,” Scrooge said “And I would do it,
If I only
could. But I have not the power to, Spirit.”
The phantom
seemed to look coldly down on him
“If there is
any person in the town, who has in them”
Scrooge said, “Any
emotion caused by this man's death,
Show them to
me, I beg you with my last breath.”
The Phantom
spread its dark robe out like a wing
And then a new
scene appeared on its withdrawing
VERSE 5 – A
SHOW OF EMOTION
The scene
revealed was a room illuminated by the day
Where a mother
watched her children quietly play
She was
expecting some one with anxious eagerness
For she began
pacing up and down in her distress
She started at
every sound and looked out the window
Then glanced at
the clock the tried in vain to sit and sew
She could
hardly bear the noise of her playing children
But the
expected and feared knock was heard then
Hurrying to the
door she found her husband there
A young man
who’s depressed face was full of care
But there was a
remarkable expression in it now
A kind of
serious delight about his eyes and brow
The feelings of
delight of which he felt ashamed
And he
struggled hard to repress the joy unnamed
He sat down
near to his wife beside the fireside
Her obvious
anxiety was quite impossible to hide
Then she asked
him to tell her the news that he had
When he didn’t
answer “Is it good.” she said, “or bad?”
“Bad,” he
answered. “We are quite ruined.” Said she
“No. Caroline”
he replied “There is hope yet you see”
“If he relents
then nothing is past hope,” Caroline said
“He is past
relenting,” said her husband. “He is dead.”
Caroline was
mild and pleasant still in her youth
An open young
creature whose face showed the truth
She was
thankful in her soul to hear it and was happy
She prayed
forgiveness next moment, and was sorry
“What the
half-drunken woman actually said to me
About him being
ill and not allowing me to see
When I tried to
see him and obtain a week's delay
And I told you
last night dear that I was sent away
I thought that
it was an excuse and she was lying
Well it was
true but he wasn’t only very ill, but dying”
“To whom will
our debt be transferred to though?”
She asked him
and he replied to her “I don't know.
But before that
we shall have the money for them
And if not
we’ll not find a successor as mean as him”
“Caroline we
may sleep with lighter hearts tonight
Yes for the
future does indeed look exceeding bright”
Even the
children became brighter with each breath
And it was a
much happier house for this man's death.
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 4 – THE LAST OF
THE SPIRITS – Verses 6 to 7
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 6 – BACK
IN CAMDEN TOWN
Now the only
emotion that the phantom could show
Caused by the
death, was only one of pleasure though
“Let me see
some tenderness connected with a death,”
Said Scrooge; “Some
tenderness spirit is my request”
The Ghost
conducted him through alley and street
Road, lane and
thoroughfare all of them familiar to his feet
And as they
went along, Scrooge looked here and there
To find
himself, but he could not see himself anywhere
They reached
poor Bob Cratchit's humble house again
And found
around the fire sat mother and children
It was Quiet.
Very quiet unnaturally so in Scrooges views
Even The noisy
little Cratchit’s were as still as statues
Sat in a
corner, looking up at Peter, who was reading
The mother and
her daughters were engaged in sewing
It was very
quiet as he read from the book before him
“And he took a
child, and set him in the midst of them.”
The mother laid
her work upon the table at her side
Put her hand to
her face to hide the tear she’d cried
“The color
hurts my eyes,” she said to the children
Then Mrs.
Cratchit said, “They're better now again,
Sewing by
candlelight makes them weak rather
And I wouldn't
want to show weak eyes to your father
Not for the
world I wouldn’t” she heard a bell chime
“No not when he
comes home, it must be near his time.”
“Past it
rather,” Peter answered, shutting up his book.
Then he walked
to the window so that he could look
Then he said “But
I think he's walked a little slower
These last few
evenings, than he used to, mother”
They were quiet
again. Until she broke the silence
And in a
steady, cheerful voice, only faltering once
“I have known
him walk with Tiny Tim on his shoulder
Very fast
indeed.” “And so have I, often” cried Peter
“And so have I,”
exclaimed another. So had they all.
“He was very
light to carry,” she continued to recall
Resuming her
work, “And his father loved him so,
That it was no
trouble” she faltered “No trouble, no”
“There your
father at the door!” continued the mother
She hurried to
meet him as Bob stood in his comforter
He sat beside
the fire as his wife prepared some tea
And they all
tried to settle him down comfortably
Then the two
young Cratchit’s got up on his knees
And each child
kissed his cheek to set him at ease
He feigned good
cheer and spoke to them all pleasantly
And Bob saw
their work and he praised the industry
And the speed
that Mrs. Cratchit and the girls display
He said they
would be done long before next Sunday
“Sunday Robert!
You went to-day, then?” she said
“Yes I went
their today, my dear,” Bob responded
“I wish you had
come, you could have seen It then
Seen how green
a place it is but you'll see it often.
I promised him
that I would walk there on a Sunday”
His words
deserted him then and he could only say
“My little,
little child!” cried Bob. “My little son!”
He broke down
the loss was to great of his little one
He couldn't
help it. It was the price of feeling love
He left the
room, and went up to the room above,
Which was lit
cheerfully, and hung with Christmas.
And he entered
and saw the cause of his distress
There was a
chair set close beside the child’s bed
And he composed
himself and kissed the little head
When he was
reconciled to the loss of his little son
He went down
stairs content to be with everyone
They drew about
the fire, and huddled against the chill
And talked at
length the girls and mother working still
Bob told them
of the act of extraordinary kindness
By Mr.
Scrooge's nephew who witnessed his distress
When they had
met that very day in Camden town
And noticing
that Bob looked more than a little down
Inquired what
had happened to distress Bob Cratchit
“And as he is a
nice fellow” said Bob, “I told him all of it.
'I am heartily
sorry for it, Mr. Cratchit’, he said to me,
'And heartily
sorry for your good wife most heartily’.
“By the bye,
how he ever knew that, I don't know.”
“Knew what, my
dear?” she said continuing to sew
“Why, that you
were a good wife,” Bob said warmly
“Everybody
knows that,” said Peter very proudly
“Very well
observed,” cried Bob. “I hope they do.
'Heartily
sorry,' he said, 'sorry for the both of you.
If I can be of
service to you in any way,' said he,
Giving me his
card, 'I live here. Pray come to me.”
It really
seemed as if he knew our Tiny Tim, and felt it”
“I'm sure he's
a good dear soul,” said Mrs. Cratchit.
“I shouldn't be
at all surprised so mark what I say,”
Bob said, “If
he got Peter a better situation one day
And Peter will
make his way in some way or other
But however and
whenever we part from one another,
I am sure we
shall none of us forget poor Tiny Tim”
“Never, father!”
cried them all. “We’ll never forget him”
“I know, my
dears, that when we recollect how patient
And how mild he
was and how happy and content
And although he
was a little, little child we shall not
Easily quarrel,
among ourselves” Bob said “and forget
Poor Tiny Tim
in doing it.” “No, never!” they all said
“I am very
happy,” said Bob, “I am very contented!”
Mrs. Cratchit
kissed him; his daughters kissed him,
The two young
Cratchit’s kissed him and he kissed them
Peter shook his
father’s hands and gave a foppish nod
Spirit of Tiny
Tim, thy childish essence was from God
VERSE 7 –
WRITING ON THE STONE
“Spectre!
Something tells me but I don’t know how”
Said Scrooge “That
our parting moment is at hand now
Tell me what
man that was whom we saw lying dead?”
The spirit did
not speak yet conveyed him on instead
The Ghost of
Christmas Yet to Come led him, as before
Through a
different time, to another place in the future
“This court,”
said Scrooge, “Is a very familiar location
And that’s my
counting house and place of occupation
Spirit of the
future let me behold what I shall be
In the days to
come and see what becomes of me”
The Spirit
stopped but the hand pointed elsewhere.
“It’s here” He
exclaimed. “Why do you point there?”
But the bony
spectral finger continued to point away
Scrooge rushed
over to his office window anyway
He looked in,
It was an office still, but not his own
The furniture
was not the same and décor unknown
And the figure
in the chair was not Scrooge clearly
The Phantom
just pointed as before disinterestedly
Scrooge
rejoined it once again and they continued
Until through
iron gates a churchyard he viewed
Here than in a
churchyard the man who lay dead
Under the sheet
now lay beneath the earth instead
The Spirit
stood among the graves, and pointed to one
Scrooge
advanced to it trembling, as it must be done
“Spirit before
I draw nearer to that stone’s location,”
Pleaded
Scrooge, “Answer me just one question.
Are these the
shadows of the things that will be,
Or are they
shadows of things that May be, only?”
Still the Ghost
pointed to the grave it was stood by
Despite no
response Scrooge was resigned to try
“Men's courses
will foreshadow,” he began to plead
Certain ends,
which, if persevered in, they must lead,”
“But if the
courses be departed from, the ends will be
Changed, Say it
is thus with what you show me.”
Scrooge crept
towards the grave trembling madly
And read on the
cold stone, Ebeneezer Scrooge. R.I.P.
“Am I that man
who lay upon the bed?” he cried,
Slumped to his
knees he begged the spirit to confide
The finger went
from the grave to him and back again.
“No, Spirit!
Please don’t send me to that dark domain”
“Good Spirit!”
he cried, clutching at its robe tightly,
The finger
still was there pointing. “Spirit hear me”
I’m not the man
I was and I won’t be that man again
That I must
have been but for this spiritual campaign
Why show me
this, if I am past all hope good spirit?”
“Oh Good
Spirit,” he pursued and fell down before it
“Assure me
that, by an altered life, you guarantee
I may change
these shadows you have shown me.”
Then Scrooge
with his hands trembling held his head
“I will honor
Christmas in my heart”, Scrooge said
And I will try
to keep it all the year you can be sure
I will live in
the Past, the Present, and the Future
And within me
shall strive The Spirits of all Three
I will not shut
out the lessons that they teach me
Oh, please tell
me” Scrooge cried in a pleading tone
That I may
sponge away the writing on this stone!”
In his agony,
he caught the spectral hand of the spirit
It sought to
free itself, but he was strong, and held it
The Spirit,
stronger, shook him and left him prostrate
He held up his
hands in a last prayer to save his fate
He saw a change
in hood and dress of his spirit host
It shrunk,
collapsed, and dwindled into a bedpost
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 5 – THE END OF
IT – Verses 1 to 2
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 1 -
REDEMPTION
Yes! And the
bedpost was his own as was the bed
The room was
his and the curtains on the bedstead
But the Best
and happiest of all and most amazing
The Time before
him was his, to make amends in!
“I will live in
the Past, the Present, and the Future!”
He repeated, as
he scrambled out of bed “I assure”
“The Spirits of
all Three shall strive within me.
On my knees I
say it on my knees, old Jacob Marley!
Heaven, and the
Christmas Time be praised for this
He was
fluttered and glowing and brimful of bliss
He had sobbed
hard in his struggle with the spirit
And his face
was wet with tears as evidence of it
He folded a
bed-curtain about him as if held in a spell
Then he cried “They
are not torn down, rings as well
They are here,
I am here and the would be shadow
Will be
dispelled all the shadows will be! That I know”
All this time
his hands busied with his shirt and gown
Pulling them
inside out and turning them upside down,
Scrooge was
both laughing and crying simultaneously
And the said “I
don't know what to do! I don’t really”
“I am as light
as a feather,” he said skipping with joy
“I’m happy as
an angel, I’m merry as a schoolboy
I’m giddy as a
drunken man” he staggered and twirled
“Merry
Christmas and happy New Year to the world!”
He had danced
off into the sitting room in his excess
And was now
standing there winded and breathless
“There's the
saucepan that the gruel was in!” he cried
Setting off
again, and dancing around about the fireside
“There's the
door, by which Marley’s Ghost entered at
And the corner
where the Ghost of Christmas Present, sat
There's the
window where I saw the wandering Spirits.
It’s all true,
it all happened. And I haven’t lost my wits!”
He laughed
heartily amazing for a man out of practice
It was a
splendid illustrious laugh born of joy and bliss
Even he didn’t
believe the brilliant laughter was his
Then he said, “I
don't know what day of the month it is,”
“I don't know
how long I've been among the Spirits
I don't know
anything. And I don't care.” He admits
He was halted
suddenly by the church bells ringing out
The lustiest
peals he had ever heard without any doubt
He ran to the
window, opened it, and put out his head.
No fog, no
mist, but clear, bright, stirring, cold instead
Golden
sunlight; heavenly sky; sweet fresh air, glorious
And the
merry-bells pealed out oh, glorious Christmas!
Scrooge called
down to a boy in Sunday clothes, “Hey!”
Scrooge paused
to chuckle “You boy what’s to-day?”
“Eh?” returned
the boy, with all his might of wonder.
“What's to-day,
my fine fellow?” Scrooge called louder
“To-day?”
replied the boy. “Why, it’s Christmas Day.”
“I haven't
missed it.” Scrooge said “it’s Christmas day!
The Spirits
have managed to do it all in one night
Well they can
do anything they like, that’s right
Yes of course
they can. Hallo, my fine young fellow!”
“Hallo!”
returned the boy still standing down below
“Do you know
the Poulterer's, in the next street but one
On the corner?”
he inquired smiling when he had done.
The boy replied
a little puzzled “I should hope I did,”
“An intelligent
boy!” said Scrooge. “A remarkable kid!
Do you know
whether they’ve sold the prize Turkey?
That was
hanging up there, the great big one obviously?”
The boy replied
smartly “What, the one as big as me?”
“What a
delightful boy!” said Ebeneezer laughing-ly
“It's a
pleasure to talk to him. Yes, my young fellow”
“It's hanging
their now,” replied the boy. “That I know”
“Is it?” said
Scrooge. “Go and buy it my young lad”
“What!”
exclaimed the boy “You must be raving mad”
“No, no,” said
Scrooge, “I am in earnest, Go and buy it,
Tell them to
bring it here, and I will give an address for it”
At first the
boy seemed a little reluctant to do the job
“Then come back
with the man, and I'll give you a “bob”.
Do it under
five minutes and I'll make it half-a-crown.”
The boy was off
like a shot to find the Poulterer’s in town
“I'll send it
to Bob Cratchit's!” Scrooge whispered low
And laughed
heartily as the boy ran off through the snow
“It will be a
surprise it's twice the size of Tiny Tim”
Sadly he
reflected Bob would not suspect it sent by him
VERSE 2 – A
POULTRY SUM AND TWO PORTLY GENTLEMEN
The hand he
wrote the address in was not a steady one
But he wrote it
and went down-stairs when it was done
As he stood,
awaiting arrival of the Poulterer’s man
The knocker
caught his eye, he thought how it all began
He touched it
gently and admired its kind expression
The Turkey
arrived and he labeled it with its destination
The Poulterer’s
man was dispatched to Camden in a cab
And Scrooge
duly paid half a crown out to the lad
Throughout his
dealings with the Turkey and the boy
Scrooge
chuckled unable to suppress his obvious joy
After shaving
he dressed himself up all in his best
And at last got
out into the streets and felt well blessed
People were by
this time pouring forth to great extent
As they had
when with the Ghost of Christmas Present
Scrooge walked
with his hands behind him for a while
And he regarded
every one with a most delighted smile
He looked so
irresistibly pleasant that more than a few
Said, “Good
morning, sir. A merry Christmas to you.”
Scrooge had not
gone very far along his way when
Coming towards
him he beheld the portly gentlemen
Who walked into
his counting house on Christmas Eve
And said to
him, “Scrooge and Marley's, I believe.”
A pang of
regret crossed his heart as he recalled it
They may wish
to avoid him he was forced to admit
But their
displeasure he would just have to face
“My dear sir,”
said Scrooge, quickening his pace,
And taking the
older gentleman by both his hands
“How do you do.
I hope you succeeded in your plans”
He then turned
his attention to the other man’s partner
“It was very
kind of you. A merry Christmas to you, sir!”
“Mr. Scrooge?”
the man said his dislike obvious to view
“That’s my
name, and I fear not a pleasant one to you
Allow me to ask
your pardon. And have the goodness”
Here Scrooge
whispered in his ear and eased his distress
“Lord bless me!”
he cried as if his breath were taken
“My dear Mr.
Scrooge, are you serious? Am I mistaken?”
“If you please,”
said Scrooge. “And not a farthing less.
A great many
back-payments are included in it, I confess
Will you do me
that favor?” Scrooge asked of them
“My dear sir,”
said the other, shaking hands with him
“We don't know
what to say to such munificence. Sir”
“Please say
nothing,” He retorted “I would prefer”
“Come and see
me. Will you come and see me?”
“We will!” they
both cried who would do it clearly
“Thank you
both, I am much obliged Bless you!”
After his
meeting it was the church that he went to
He walked the
streets watching people come and go
Sharing smiles
and hello’s as they hurried to and fro
Scrooge found
that everything could yield him pleasure
A simple walk
gave him happiness beyond measure
SCROOGE and MARLEY (Deceased) – STAVE 5 – THE END OF
IT – Verses 3 to 5
A POEM by Paul
Curtis, BASED ON THE STORY by
Charles Dickens
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
VERSE 3 –
CALLING ON A NEPHEW
In the
afternoon he turned his steps in another direction
Towards his
nephew's house to accept his invitation
He passed the
door a dozen times before his visit
When he found
the courage he made a dash at it
He asked the
girl “Is your master at home, my dear?”
“Yes, sir.” She
replied in a voice polite and clear
“Where is he,
my love?” He said with some finesse.
“He's in the
dining-room, along with my mistress
I'll show you
up-stairs, if you please.” The girl said
“Thank you. He
knows me, he’s my nephew Fred”
Scrooge said,
his hand already on the dining-room lock.
“I'll go in
here, my dear.” He entered without a knock
He sidled his
face in, round the door silent and supple
Fred and his
young wife were looking at the laden table
The table was
spread in great array for the festivities
And the young
housekeeper doubtful about her abilities
“Fred!” said
Ebeneezer Scrooge a little fainthearted.
Dear heart
alive, how his niece by marriage started.
Scrooge forgot
about her sitting in the quiet corner
With footstool,
or he would not have startled her
“Why bless my
soul!” cried Fred, “Who's that there?”
“It's I. Your
Uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner.
Does the
invitation hold? Will you let me in, Fred?”
“Let you in? I
couldn’t be happier,” the nephew said
When uncle and
wife were introduced Scrooge hesitated
And said “May
god forgive me for the years I’ve wasted”
Let him in
indeed Fred could not have been happier
He was at home
nothing could have been heartier
Scrooge saw
that his niece looked just the same.
So did Topper
and the plump sister when they came
There was
wonderful happiness and much partying.
But he was
early at his counting house next morning.
VERSE 4 – BACK
TO THE COUNTING HOUSE
Oh he was early
there. If he could only be there first
And catch Bob
Cratchit come late! And see him cursed
That was the
thing Scrooge had set his heart upon
And so he did
and he sat and saw nine o’clock gone
The clock
struck nine. No Bob. A quarter past. No Bob.
It was
undoubtedly so that he was tardy for his job
He was full
eighteen minutes behind his usual time
Bob knew that
to Scrooge it was a cardinal crime
Bob’s hat was
off even before he opened the door
His comforter
too was taken off his neck before
Scrooge sat
with his door wide open, so he might see
As Bob Cratchit
crept in toward his desk silently
He was on his
stool in a jiffy and picked up his pen
An accustomed
voice growled “What time is this then?”
“What do you
mean by coming here this time of day?”
Bob’s heart
sank as he thought he was about to pay
“I am behind my
time,” said Bob “I'm very sorry, sir”
“You are”
observed Scrooge. “Yes. I think you are.
Step this way,
if you please Mr. Cratchit” he said
“It's only once
a year, sir, It shall not be repeated.
I was making
rather merry yesterday, sir.” he pleaded
“Now, I'll tell
you what, my friend,” Scrooge said
“I am not going
to stand this sort of thing anymore”
He continued,
leaping from his stool “And therefore,”
Then he dug Bob
in the arm with his finger quite firmly
And said “And
therefore I am about to raise your salary.”
Bob trembled,
and thought about calling a constable
Then Scrooge
smiled and he felt more uncomfortable
“A merry
Christmas, Bob,” He smiled and laughed again
He spoke with
an earnestness that could not be mistaken
“A merrier
Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, I fear”
He continued “Than
I have given you for many a year.
I'll raise your
salary, and assist your struggling family
I am in earnest
Bob and I mean to help you honestly
And we will
discuss your affairs this very afternoon,
Over a
Christmas bowl in the Saracens Head saloon
Make up the
fires, and buy another coalscuttle Bob
Before you dot
another I, cross another t or any job!”
He was better
than his word. He did it all and more rather
And to Tiny
Tim, who did not die, he was a second father.
He became as
good a friend, and master, and man
As anyone in
any city, town, borough or world can
Some people
laughed to see the great alteration in him,
But Scrooge let
them laugh, and he little heeded them
He had no
further intercourse with any sort of Spirit
It was said if
any man alive had the knowledge of it
That scrooge
knew very well how to keep Christmas
And may that
always be truly said of us, and all of us!
Now our story
of Ebeneezer Scrooge’s redemption is done
And as Tiny Tim
observed, God Bless Us, Every One!
