Stave 1
Marley's Ghost
Marley was dead to begin with. There's no uncertainty.
The register of burial was signed for all to see
By those who had no interest; like the clergyman, the clerk,
The undertaker signed his name. Scrooge too had made his mark.
Scrooge signed it. Scrooge's name was good if money was exchanged.
The documents were signed and sealed; the burial arranged.
Marley was dead as a door-nail. His body in a cask.
Mind for my own poor knowledge I feel that I have to ask
Why we are so precise about a door-nail being dead.
I might have been inclined to use 'a coffin-nail' instead,
The deadest piece of ironmongery for a simile.
The wisdom of our ancestors is good enough for me
And my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it from its seat
Or the good Country's done for. So, permit me to repeat
Emphatically, that Marley was as dead as he could be
Like the proverbial door-nail and for all eternity.