The Man that She Helped to Die

The Lord High Constable’s men came down

To Camberwell’s village square,

They asked the Crier to call Oyez

To gather the villagers there,

He rang his bell and the people came

Agog, when they heard him say,

A rogue they sought was abroad, they thought,

Was last seen heading their way.

 

‘Beware this man, he’s an evil rogue,

He battered his wife to death,

The woman lay in a blind dismay

Breathing her final breath,

If anyone sees a stranger here

Who looks like a feral lout,

Be sure to alert the magistrates

By calling the footpad out.’

 

The people scattered, went to their homes

And locked and bolted each door,

Then stood there parting the curtains,

Just to be safe and sure,

Most of the men were still at work

But not for the widow Hayes,

She’d not long buried the husband

She’d loved in her salad days.

 

So when she turned the key in the lock

She couldn’t resist a tear,

She missed the man who would hold her hand

And quieten every fear,

She was much too young for a widow,

Or that’s what everyone said,

And so was Tom, but he’d travelled on,

Had left to lie with the dead.

 

She turned, was suddenly listening

When she heard an alien note,

And there stood a man in her kitchen

Holding a knife at her throat,

‘I mean no harm, don’t be alarmed

I just need a place to stay,

And please don’t weep, for I just need sleep,

But don’t give the game away.’

 

He made her lie on her narrow bed

And he cuddled up behind,

One of his arms around her waist

Though he asked if she didn’t mind,

She lay there, feeling his body warmth

And it made her think of Tom,

Would ever she feel like this again,

How long, Oh Lord, how long?

 

She didn’t know how it happened, but

She felt when he raised her shift,

Deep in the dark, dead pit of night

Her skirt had begun to lift,

She bit her knuckle and shed the tears

That would soak her pillowcase,

And muttered, when it was over, ‘So,

That’s what they mean by rape!’

 

She cooked him a meal at breakfast time

And thought, ‘He isn’t so bad.’

Then, ‘What if my folks could see me now,

They’d think I was going mad.

I’m cooking a meal for a murderer

Though he says that it wasn’t him,

He thinks that it was his neighbour

So he says, some guy called Jim.’

 

He stayed three days and was gone that night,

Under a starless sky,

The widow Hayes had grown fond of him,

It was hard to say goodbye.

But the news came back that they cornered him

Had seen him try to escape,

And questioned what she had done with him,

She didn’t mention the rape.

 

They sent him down at the old Assize,

And sentenced him for his crime,

They wouldn’t believe that it wasn’t him

‘They say that, all of the time!’

He struggled up on the gallows there

With the face of a man who begs,

While she stood near in the Hanging Square,

Stepped up, and pulled on his legs.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

footpad
her salad days.
raised her shift,

ahahaha! i am so laughing right out loud all by myself here in the computer room of my home :))))))))))))))

love your use of language .. so very cool, clever and expands my mind .. best one yet says i!
E.
Stepped up, and pulled on his legs. ..indeed! :)))

[Lady Lola]

The stories you tell through verse; amazing. I really like your wording, as someone who dabbles in historical ficion, I appreciate it immensely.

[Marie]

The end of this was so horrible it left me gasping for breath. She'd grown fond enough of him to try to make his death easier...

Oh I can't think about it.

It wasn't funny.

[Lyn Croker Paget]

A great story with plenty of Drama releasing a see-saw of emotions both for the reader and The Widow Hayes.
A young woman still grieving the loss of her husband and then threatened at knife point by this accused murderer and fugitive.
The trauma of rape for her by a man who is meanwhile pleading his innocence of murder would be hard to believe.

A twist which can happen, when a person being held captive can develop an emotional attachment during that time.

There was absolutely no chance of reprieve for this recaptured man and the widow when questioned had omitted the rape.

The gallows was a gruesome end a clever inclusion by you of Widow Hayes quietly showing mercy by pulling on his legs to hasten his death, thus relieving his suffering.
(An act of mercy done often by a relative in those times)
I can still feel chills from this. DLP

[Barbz]

The young widow was obviously not as concerned about the rogue who killed his wife, although she did 'secure her home, but not soon enough! She was lamenting her husbands death, unaware that the "feral lout" was in her kitchen,,,begging for a nights sleep, by knife!...Seems she got more than she expected, as she muttered "So that's what they mean by Rape".....after staying with her for a few days, and gaining her affection, he left, but caught escaping, tried and sentenced to the gallows........where she stood near, in the Hanging Square, stepped up and pulled his legs!!! Do you have any questions, I Do!! That's what I enjoy DLP, You always know where you're going....To me, they are usually mind teasers.....Great, Thank You, Barbz