Scuttle, Scuttle, Little Roach
Christopher Morley 1890 (Haverford) – 1957
SCUTTLE, scuttle, little roach—
How you run when I approach:
Up above the pantry shelf,
Hastening to secrete yourself.
Most adventurous of vermin,
How I wish I could determine
How you spend your hours of ease,
Perhaps reclining on the cheese.
Cook has gone, and all is dark—
Then the kitchen is your park:
In the garbage heap that she leaves
Do you browse among the tea leaves?
How delightful to suspect
All the places you have trekked:
Does your long antenna whisk its
Gentle tip across the biscuits?
Do you linger, little soul,
Drowsing in our sugar bowl?
Or, abandonment most utter,
Shake a shimmy on the butter?
Do you chant your simple tunes
Swimming in the baby's prunes?
Then, when dawn comes, do you slink
Homeward to the kitchen sink?
Timid roach, why be so shy?
We are brothers, thou and I.
In the midnight, like yourself,
I explore the pantry shelf!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 203 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABB XXCC DDEE FFXX GGHH IIDX JJBB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 974 |
Words | 156 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Scuttle, Scuttle, Little Roach" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/6076/scuttle,-scuttle,-little-roach>.
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