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.
2 comments:
That's creepy/cool! Is that an illustration of the poem or one that you found that fit? It's great!
I 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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