The Lesson
Roger McGough 1937 (Litherland)
Chaos ruled OK in the classroom
as bravely the teacher walked in
the nooligans ignored him
his voice was lost in the din
'The theme for today is violence
and homework will be set
I'm going to teach you a lesson
one that you'll never forget'
He picked on a boy who was shouting
and throttled him then and there
then garrotted the girl behind him
(the one with grotty hair)
Then sword in hand he hacked his way
between the chattering rows
'First come, first severed' he declared
'fingers, feet or toes'
He threw the sword at a latecomer
it struck with deadly aim
then pulling out a shotgun
he continued with his game
The first blast cleared the backrow
(where those who skive hang out)
they collapsed like rubber dinghies
when the plug's pulled out
'Please may I leave the room sir? '
a trembling vandal enquired
'Of course you may' said teacher
put the gun to his temple and fired
The Head popped a head round the doorway
to see why a din was being made
nodded understandingly
then tossed in a grenade
And when the ammo was well spent
with blood on every chair
Silence shuffled forward
with its hands up in the air
The teacher surveyed the carnage
the dying and the dead
He waggled a finger severely
'Now let that be a lesson' he said
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Submitted by RobertHaigh on July 25, 2020
Modified on May 04, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 964 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XABA CDED XFBF GHXH IJEJ FKCK IDIL GMNM XFLF XONO |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,194 |
Words | 231 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Lesson" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/54458/the-lesson>.
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