Rebecca Poem by Hilaire Belloc

Rebecca

Rating: 3.0


Who Slammed Doors For Fun And Perished Miserably

A trick that everyone abhors
In little girls is slamming doors.
A wealthy banker's little daughter
Who lived in Palace Green, Bayswater
(By name Rebecca Offendort),
Was given to this furious sport.

She would deliberately go
And slam the door like billy-o!
To make her uncle Jacob start.
She was not really bad at heart,
But only rather rude and wild;
She was an aggravating child...

It happened that a marble bust
Of Abraham was standing just
Above the door this little lamb
Had carefully prepared to slam,
And down it came! It knocked her flat!
It laid her out! She looked like that.

Her funeral sermon (which was long
And followed by a sacred song)
Mentioned her virtues, it is true,
But dwelt upon her vices too,
And showed the deadful end of one
Who goes and slams the door for fun.

The children who were brought to hear
The awful tale from far and near
Were much impressed, and inly swore
They never more would slam the door,
-- As often they had done before.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM

A very entertaining and humorous poem yet the lines ‘And down it came! It knocked her flat! It laid her out! She looked like that.’ end weakly with the ambiguous ‘She looked like that.’ The poem would attain a more thrilling climax if continuity was maintained and the last line of this important stanza finished ‘It laid her out! Dead just like that! ’ The contrast with the next stanza beginning ‘Her funeral sermon (which was long’ is then more fitting in relationship to the grim humour of her ‘deadful end’.

8 10 Reply
Sujit Sinha 06 July 2010

Amusing poem. However I cant help thinking How terribly wrong it was To place Abraham's bust on that wall

14 4 Reply
Adnan Khalifeh 19 May 2010

Thanks God this poet died before making world more complicated.

9 5 Reply
Joshua Zwane 19 May 2012

lovely write-a fun read

7 6 Reply
Juan Olivarez 19 May 2010

Truly outstanding poem. It hits on all cylinders. The words flow like a gently flowing river and no one needs to guess at the meaning. No need to ponder and guess at meanings, it is all laid out for you, and besides it has a moral.Asolutely enchanting.

8 3 Reply
Chris M 24 February 2022

'deadful'?

0 0 Reply
Your mom 15 January 2019

SO she died slamming her door?

5 0 Reply
Rebecca Navarre 13 February 2017

Very Well Written Poem! ! ! ! ! With Lots Of Wisdom Shown! ! ! ! !

3 1 Reply
Walterrean Salley 26 November 2016

(Rebecca by Hilaire Belloc.) **Huge price for a door slammer.

3 1 Reply
Michelle Claus 19 May 2014

Clever cautionary tale.

9 3 Reply
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Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc

La Celle-Saint-Cloud
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