Satan's Riddle
As I was out, about, one day
I met the strangest man;
We talked of things, of wax and kings
As he, his tale, began.
He said he was a carpenter
But looked so fine and grand,
Sporting walrus whiskers
And walking cane to hand.
He told me of his lifetime,
Five hundred years or more;
He said that I knew nothing,
Was wasted heretofore.
He said he'd speak a riddle
Before he'd by your leave,
I'd never glean the answer
Just so long as I may breathe.
'Tis round a dish as ever known
And white as snow the look of it;
There's food and life for all mankind
But no man ere partook of it.
If I could solve this puzzle
I'd walk away scot-free;
If not, the devil take my soul,
And steal away with me.
He laughed and said he had me,
That I was soundly beat;
And oh, so soon I'd walk with him ~
The archfiend for to meet.
But he'd not know what made me tall
All those years by-go;
He figured wrong what made me strong
And made my lifeblood flow.
His laughing face would turn to stone
He'd see his ruse I'd bilk;
And answer his conundrum when
I whispered "Mother's milk".
About this poem
A riddle in quatrains from 2018
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Submitted by AlanSJeeves on July 18, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 8 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXA BCXC XDXD EXBX FGXG EHXH HIXI XJXJ FKXK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,031 |
Words | 212 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Satan's Riddle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/105242/satan's-riddle>.
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