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”
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