literature

Mad As A Hatter

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Literature Text

Mad As A Hatter

I pull my hat low upon my brow
My hands trembling, convulsing now
I wipe the drool from off my chin
And try to walk upright again
I stumble, screaming out a horrific sound
I have fallen once more to the ground

I cannot stop the shrieking
How many biscuits are there today?
A COPPER A WATCHMAN!
No, no n-n-n-n-no sir, I-I-I-I
Hattah Hattah Hattah Haigha
STOP IT!

It comes from within yet I know not where
I crawl now with frightful despair
I only wish to return home
Saved from the tempers which are my own
And here they come their coat of white
I have no voice to tell my plight

And yet I laugh and mumble so
Ten o-o-o-o-over six NO!
Where did everybody g-g-go?
Mommy never loved me
I want to lay in a flowerpot
OH! the butcher is raining

Now, amid my padded walls
And curdling screams of darkened halls
And arms tied tight around my side
The laughter I cannot subside
The price you pay, or so it seems
For the finest hat in all Bedleem
This piece was inspired by my Haloween Costume This year
A little backround information on this piece, if you dont understand most of what's going on in this piece, you might want to search Mad As A Hatter and Bedlem (Or Bethlehem Royal Hospital) This poem is set in 1814, the last year Bedlem resided in the buildings in Moorfields. I chose this time because it was near the end of the "show of Bethlehem" which I wanted to have as a visual and moving image in this poem. Once again if you don't know anything about the origins of the phrase mad as a hatter or the history of Bedlem hospital I seriously urge you to look it up, I think you will find it very interesting. (On a side note, for anyone who really really knows their history, they might notice that while the poem is set in 1814, the phrase "Mad as a hatter" is not used in common use in England until around 1837, nevertheless, it was a phrase in its infancy in 1814 making the plight of this man all the more seclusionary) This is a character who I will be doing other poems on. Ive decided to name him Richard Aarman. Oh and btw, for anyone who has a love of literature, they might notice some references to other works within the poem. Leave me a comment, I would love to know what peoplet think of this.
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