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
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