Wax Dolls Of Wentworth Hall

A wanted gift for a wife, leads to a foolish and harsh outcome.

I
The harrowing tale I dare to bespeak,
Is about the small wick'd dolls of fright,
Who the leery gossipers ne'er misspeak, 
Dwelling within an unearthly hall at night.
II
On the 18th of December I sought a gift,
That would be given then to my fair lady,
But ne'er did I ween my life would shift,
As her ending would be grim and shady.
III
One day I had found a hidden toyshop,
Nearby the corner of London's West End,
Standing next to a well known bookshop,
      Within the loftiness of the newest trend.      
IX
When I went inside, I met a shrewd fellow, 
Who was I learnt, the owner of the shop, 
A well bred man whose mien was mellow,
As I star'd at the long row of dolls on top.
V
He said, "The dolls how comely are they all."
"How much do they cost sir?" I ask'd him.
"Which do you prefer, the big or the small?
Boys and girls, do have an unwieldy whim." 
VI
"Yes, but this good gift I seek, is not for a child,
But instead, 'tis for my dear belov'd wife," I said.
"A worthy gift is a winsome doll lovely and mild,
And one with hair that she could easily braid."
VII
Therefore he climb'd onto the wooden ladder, 
Where he grabb'd from the top a wondrous doll.
"I have chosen the right one to make her gladder,
And she is crafty and devilish within her loll."
VIII 
"What do you mean by that sir?" I ask'd him then,
"O don't mind me, for I am fond of all my children,
For they are like children to me as sons are to men,
Like the whispering birr of the wind blowing, listen!"
IX
I did not have much time, so I didn't heed to rubbish,
"I wish I have more time to speak, but I must go now,
For my wife does not like me to be late and sluggish."
I told him, as he smil'd with a look raising his brow.
X
But before I left with the doll, he said to me afterward,
"Her name is Mary, such an amazing doll she is indeed,
She was ere a lady-in-waiting, fain and heading upward,
But she misfar'd within her wonts and her own misdeed."
XI
I left the toyshop and head'd back at once to my home,
Where I hid the wax doll that was wrapp'd and unseen,
Until the next day, when my wife came back from Rome,
Pretty and full with the winter's glee as I had foreseen.
XII
She became fond of the doll, and had her stow'd away,
By the hall in our house that was call'd Wentworth hall,
Along the other kept dolls she had gather'd straightway,
Where they stood all still and deaf against the listless wall.
XIII 
But ne'er did I truly believe the shocking ordeal I dreed,
When the winter days of mirth would become days of fear,
As my buxom wife would be trapp'd within her selfish greed,
And my life would become a living nightmare within a year.
XIV
A year had betid'd, since I had bought the doll of dread, 
And the doll was beginning to wield my darling Annabel, 
Whilst she was starting to become batty and lost her head,
As her behaviour was that of a wanton and sinful Jezebel.
XV
What I dare to say, will be understood by many as unholy,
But I swear by the God I follow within me that I tell the truth,
That what happen'd to my dear wife was deadly and ungodly,
And the wretch'd devil that lurks amongst us bears no ruth!
XVI 
For forty days and nights, the doll undermin'd the wit of my wife,
Who did e'erything that the baleful doll ask'd her to do forthwith,
And she began to roam the nights of London seeking another life,
When I had some locks put inside and outside by the locksmith.
XVII 
One night I rose from my warm bed worrisome to see soon, 
The most grueful sight that had unfold'd before my own eyes,
Whence that queer flickering light shone brightly of the moon,
As I heard loudly afterwards my Annabel's unyielding cries.
XVIII 
Swiftly I had run onto the lengthy hallway skittish and fast,
Where what I had witness'd next startl'd me withinwards,
As the mighty swarm of buzzing flies had left me aghast,
Whilst flying wildly and brazenly o'er my head thitherwards.
XIX 
Thereafter, I fell fecklessly onto the ground blind'd,
As I call'd unbridl'dly upon my belov'd Annabel madly,
But I had slowly falter'd too wearisome and too wind'd,
As before me, she stood as a wax doll in the hall sadly.
XX
Henceforth, I was ne'er to see my dearest Annabel anew,
And as for Mary that unholy and unsightly doll of the devil,
I had no forthcoming tidings of her as I sought to eschew,
That undying nightmare of my Annabel as the doll of evil.