Poem of The Scarlet Letter

In the 17th century, of olde times yore,

A group of Puritans came ashore

A land called Boston henceforth be named;

At first only outcasts, but soon followed more.

And thus, it must be proclaimed,

That this peaceful haven be but only shamed

By a lonely woman called Hester Prynne;

Caught red-handed and harshly blamed.

But does this woman have evil within?

Where do I even begin…

Her story starts with the letter “A”;

One night’s mistake, a lifetime of sin.

Young Hester besought to cast away,

New England bound, to yonder bay.

Without her husband she must go,

Due to an unfortunate delay.

As years flew by, he did not show,

And Hester’s boredom began to grow.

You can guess what happened next.

Yea, a child was born, even so.

The locals of Boston were highly complex,

With strict enforcement of religious text.

But Hester’s crime caused quite a brawl,

And many wished for severe effects.

The “goodwives” of New England felt her penalty too small,

“Merciful overmuch,” these words they would call.

But her burden lay stitched with strings of gold thread,

The scarlet letter “A”, displayed for all.

What’s more to add to her endless dread?

Old Roger Chillingworth, her husband, back from the dead!

He spots Hester standing on yonder scaffold, head held up high,

Could it be his Hester with the “A” sewn in red?

Soon enough, the Chilly One becomes the bad guy,

His body misshapen enough to make a grown man cry.

He vows to seek revenge all his life,

Even if that meant till the day he will die.

But time wore on, and Hester’s role as a wife

Matured into motherhood after years of strife.

Her impish child, for whom she named Pearl,

Hath peculiar manners, her abnormalities rife.

Now who on earth was the father of this girl?

With the help of the Chilly One, his identity soon began to unfurl.

He suspected Reverend Dimmesdale, and he sure guessed right.

Even if the poor man looked as if at any minute, he would hurl.

With his sickly stature; his figure oh so slight,

Young Dimmesdale alone was quite the sight.

But who would’ve guessed he was guilty, given all his pain?

Just one more thing to keep him up at night.

Yet with all this guilt came endless blame,

Which Dimmesdale himself could not contain.

With his “bloody scourge” in hand, he would whip;

While laughing bitterly, he appeared insane.

But Hester Prynne only secured her grip,

And avoided crumbling down like Dimmesdale’s guilt trip.

She served her community, though still rejected,

And worked as a seamstress, for her skills many would tip.

Finally, the moment we had all suspected

Called for Hester and Dimmesdale to meet, as expected.

They met in the woods and decided to flee,

For New England was no place where they were respected.

But the Chilly One, who was as evil as can be,

Booked the same ship in hope Dimmesdale would not break free

Of his eternal torment; Roger’s only life goal,

And for that, he felt an enormous amount of glee.

Hester stood helpless as Dimmesdale preached out his soul.

And after, stood upon yonder scaffold.

He confessed his sins to the crowd down below,

But before she could stop him, it was beyond her control.

He ripped open his shirt to expose what, as readers, we may never know.

A bloody letter “A” carved into his skin, it may be so.

For that all explains why his hand clutched his chest,

And tortured him senseless since that affair years ago.

And with that, he fell dead. His anguish expressed.

But why did this ending leave us feeling depressed?

It’s not so much cheerless, if ye give it some thought.

After all, did he not eliminate what caused him most stress?