A CHRISTMAS CAROL - STAVE TWO

STAVE TWO - THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS

The clock tolled one, Scrooge raised his head
The first of the spirits stood close to his bed;
Of ancient appearance, and garbed all in white
From the crown of its head sprung a bright jet of light
(Though this could be capped, should one so decide,
With a great candle snuffer held close to its side).
Round its waist was a belt of a lustre quite grand
And a fresh branch of holly was clutched in its hand.

"The Ghost of Christmas Past am I,
Come to remind you of seasons gone by";
So saying the spirit made ready to leave,
He warned Ebenezer to hold tight his sleeve.
Across to the window they started to glide
Unaided it opened, they floated outside,
Yet not to the courtyard that nestled below
But a place from his childhood, and a time long ago.

They walked down a lane through familiar places
The people, Scrooge saw, had familiar faces.
He called and he waved, yet he got no reply
The ghost gave this answer when Scrooge asked him why:
"We cannot be heard and we cannot be seen
For these are but shadows of things that have been".
It seemed for a moment these shadows brought joy,
Then they came to the school where he'd lived as a boy.

The schoolroom was empty, the Yule had begun
The children gone home now, excepting just one,
A sad lonely figure, sat reading a book
Scrooge wandered over to take a close look.
He saw that the boy was indeed his young self
His only companions the books on the shelf;
Just for a second a tear touched his eye
Then right before him the years tumbled by.

An older Scrooge paced up and down
His books ignored, his face a frown,
Then gaily through the schoolroom door
A young girl skipped across the floor.
Fran, his sister, full of mirth
One day to die whilst giving birth;
For now she took young Scrooge's hand
And told of the wonderful Christmas she'd planned,
The moment had come to take leave of this place
The joy fairly shone upon his youthful face.

In a flash the years rolled by once more
The man and the ghost nigh an old warehouse door,
"Its old Fezziwigs" Scrooge delightfully cried
On a wave of remembrance he hurried inside.
In the midst of a party he spied Fezziwig
His face full of cheer as he danced a fine jig.
No better master could one hope to find
Decent and honest, generous and kind.
(In Scrooge's heart how these thoughts struck a chord
For ne'er to his clerk did such things he afford.)

Again in an instant the years spiralled by
What scene from his memory would he now descry ?
Himself grown to manhood, in the prime of his life
Beside him the woman he'd marked for his wife.
And yet she was crying, yet Scrooge understood
By his greed he had lost her, and lost her for good;.
Still she had loved him, yet still she had left
All these years later he at last felt bereft.
"Spirit release me" he tearfully cried
But the spirit no longer stood there at his side;
Once more in his bedroom, exhausted he wept
He fell on his bed, and exhausted he slept.

COPYRIGHT D M PAMMENT 2009