JOHN MOULDYI spied John Mouldy in his cellar,
Deep down twenty steps of stone;
In the dusk he sat a-smiling,
A-smiling there alone.
He read no book, he snuffed no candle;
The rats ran in, the rats ran out;
And far and near the drip of water
Went whisp'ring about.
The dusk was still, with dew a-falling,
I saw the Dog Star bleak and grim,
I saw a slim brown rat of Norway
Creep over him.
I spied John Mouldy in his cellar,
Deep down twenty steps of stone;
In the dusk he sat a-smiling,
A-smiling there alone.
--Walter De la Mare.
That's creepy/cool! Is that an illustration of the poem or one that you found that fit? It's great!
ReplyDeleteI got the picture from Peter Haining's book TERROR!, about pulp horror illustrations, if you remember. The full picture was even more appropriate, as it had a rat on it's knee, but I couldn't get it because it was too close to the spine. It was originally for a short story.
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