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
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