Box Of 999 Doom'd Souls

A reckless soul's need to relive his live anew, condemns him, to the eternal box of 999 doomed souls.

I
Upon the darkest corner of the street,
Pry the eyes of the o'erlord of London, 
Wielding the lively nights of dread fleet, 
Lurking behind those sins too wanton.
II
One dreary night a forsaken soul met,
The reaper of death as he soon walk'd,
Through an eerie and cold mist of fret,
  As he saw a selcouth man as he balk'd. 
III
The shadow of a man stood before him,
Willowy and dress'd in a shade of black,
With a long top hat and his lofty coat trim,
As the heels of his shoes began to clack.
IV
"Who are you? Are you a bloody thief?
If you are one, I have nothing of worth!
And thus let me wallow within my grief!"
Mr. Simms said whilst strolling north.
V
"My name should not worry thee old chap,
For what I shall offer, shall make thee glad,
As thou shalt forget then thy gloom as I tap, 
And a want for wealth, shall drive thee mad!"
VI
Mr Simms thought the odd man spoke with guile,
"Why you are mad sir, and I warn you, go away!"
"Words of the fearful meek," he said with a smile.
"Hence, I know e'erything about thee straightway."
VII
He had walk'd away from the brazen man slowly,
But when he had head'd backwards, he was there, 
Behind him with those bewildering eyes unholy,
Whence he show'd him his devilish grin of ere.
VIII
"As I said before, I know e'erything about thee,
Don't be blind with fright, for I have the answer.
Only I, could take away all thy sorrow too dree!"
Mr Simms felt his weak heart beating more faster.
IX
"Who are you truly? How do you know my name?"
He ask'd him, as he shiver'd when he came closer,
"I am the owner of all the souls of guilt and shame, 
I have no first or last name, I am the night's rover."
X
"If you know me, then what is my name bold fiend?"
He ask'd with a stern look within his eyes afterwards,
As he had start'd to belief in his ghastly words of end,
Whilst his ordeal made his feet tremble thitherwards.
XI 
"Thy name, is Thomas Simms, a lonesome wretch,
From the west side of London, who hath lost his wife,
His wealth, his house, his children, all ne'er to fetch,
And forlorn within the barest walls of his rueful life!"
XII 
"Why do you tease me, for are you a madman of gore?"
Mr. Simms dar'd him looking into his eyes of brashness,
The willowy man said, "I want, thy soul and nothing more,
And I shall give thee then, thy life again within rashness."
XIII
He began to bewitch him thinking of the unheard,
The life he had before the doom of yester that struck,
As he grabb'd from his coat a deed, "Don't be afeard,
For thy laden nightmare shall be gone with good luck."
XIV
He told him to write his name at the right hand corner,
With his fresh blood so that this deed would be binding,
As he did what was told, and no longer was he a mourner,
And the path to happiness was bright and not winding.
XV
"Thou hast ninety days to live o'er, with thy lov'd ones,
To do whate'er thou wishest, but do not hark to greed,
For if so, thou shalt feel my wrath pricking thy bones, 
As thou shalt be trapp'd within this box, ne'er freed."
XVI
He show'd him a box that was full of the souls of doom,
"Begone now fellow, for I shall be abiding thee on that day!"
He quoth, "I am thankful to you sir, for wresting this gloom,
And I shall see you soon, and on this day I shall not sway."
XVII
He shook his hand, and left him behind as he was watching,
But before he left, he said again,"Ninety days do not forget!'
The words tarried in Mr. Simm's brain as he was scratching,
When he dwin'd into the bleary mist of the night of the outset.
XVIII
Thuswise, for ninety days he was more wealthy and fain,
For a world belong'd to him and was beckon'd to his call,
And he grew bolder and meaner within his wrought main,
Whilst, he liv'd like a king in the golden wedge of his hall. 
XIX
But yet, he forgot those words that he had been warn'd, 
As the taut grasp of his teeming greed blind'd him quickly,
And he start'd to lose e'erything he was wont and had earn'd,
For he had become the evil devil himself ruthless and fickly.
XX
First his wife, his friends, and then his children he forsook,
And he found himself drowning in the lorn walls of madness, 
That had curst him within the depth of hell that he mistook,
Where he was lurking e'er within the streets of badness.
XXI
And ninety days had come and gone as it had been foretold,
As Mr. Simms saw, the o'erweening mien of the devil anon,
Standing nigh within the fiery hallway beside men ninefold.
Whose dreadful and wearisome souls were doom'd thereon.
XXII
"We meet again dear fellow, within the unwieldy grip of greed,
I had forewarn'd before, that greed would lead to thy downfall,
And thou hast forgotten the only warning that I told thee to heed,
Thence, thou broke our troth, and upon thee death shall befall.
XXIII
He tore the deed and then threw the shreds onto the ground,
And grabb'd from his coat, the shining box of 999 souls doom'd,
Mr. Simm's body shudder'd as the hallway became a mound,
When the box open'd before his eyes and the souls had loom'd.
XXIV
He fought but yet was drawn into the box of the souls swiftly,
As that was the shocking ending to this haunting tale of fright,
And this fiendish o'erlord of London roam'd the corners fitly,
Under a drifting mist seeking the heartless souls of the night!