Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TRAVELER'S CURSE AFTER MISDIRECTION by ANONYMOUS

First Line: "MAY THEY STUMBLE, STAGE BY STAGE"
Last Line: "NOW RIB, NOW THIGH, NOW ARM, NOW SHIN, / BUT ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL, THE NECK"
Subject(s): CURSES;HATE;TRAVEL; JOURNEYS;TRIPS;

May they stumble, stage by stage
On an endless pilgrimage,
Dawn and dusk, mile after mile,
At each and every step, a stile;
At each and every step withal
May they catch their feet and fall;
At each and every fall they take
May a bone within them break;
And may the bone that breaks within
Not be, for variation's sake,
Now rib, now thigh, now arm, now shin,
But always, without fail THE NECK.





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