SearchAs you explore Hildebrand's dungeons, try to work out how you can free Madeline. When you think you have the answer, read the solution at the end of the poem to see if you are right.
1. PROLOGUE
It is your wedding feast. Your blushing bride
Is Madeline, a very paragon
Of beauty. Fresh-faced and eager-eyed,
She chatters with the guests while you look on.
Then suddenly - a cold draught from outside -
The hunchbacked Hildebrand is glimpsed - and gone -
And so is Madeline! Your bride is lost!
And you must get her back no matter what the cost!
2. HILDEBRAND'S BEDROOM
The bedroom's centre-piece is a four-poster
With silken sheets and pillows all in red.
This unusual choice of colour is supposed to
Hide the mess when he drinks blood in bed.
But do not linger, or get too engrossed to
Find the things you need: there on a thread
Dangles the KEY to Madeline's dark cell,
A KEY which will unlock his gold as well!
3. THE KITCHEN
Among the ovens, pans, and trestle tables
And every sort of knife and fork and spoon
You'll find a SILVER KNIFE, which in the fables
Is used for killing werewolves at full moon.
And on the block is horseflesh from the stables
(Or human flesh?). The MEAT may be a boon
At least you will not starve in this dark dungeon
(Even though it seems to have some mould and gunge on!)
4. THE LIBRARY
The room is high, the walls are lined with books,
Their covers white with mildew, thick with dust:
But never judge a woman by her looks
Or a book by its cover. 'Neath the must
You'll find A BOOK OF SPELLS. One is for spooks,
Explaining how they can be trapped and trussed
And on another shelf you'll find A BIBLE
To help you out if you get vampire trouble.
5. THE LABORATORY
What evil alchemy is practised here
In this laboratory, far underground?
Bizarre retorts and tubes rise tier on tier
And POISON bubbles with a sickly sound.
Should Frankenstein's creation now appear
It would cause no surprise - don't hang around!
A creature comes with such a power to damn
That Frankenstein seems like a little lamb!
6. THE BURIAL CRYPT
You draw a breath and hold it in, tight lipped,
The stench is foul! Unspeakable things crawl
Around your feet. This is a burial crypt!
Coffins are stacked in rows from wall to wall
And on each one, in faded manuscript
The name of him or her who lies in thrall.
And one of them is DRACULA! Your heart bangs!
You'll need the BIBLE to ward off his fangs!
7. THE MUSIC ROOM
An eerie humming fills the music room
It's not the harpsichord, or broken flute,
Or pipe organ which towers into the gloom:
The instruments are full of dust, and mute.
It is a GHOST which hums that morbid tune,
Strumming with ghostly hands a ghostly LUTE.
You'll need a SPELL to stop him from attacking
(And by the way, his LUTE is worth hijacking!)
8. THE WEREWOLF'S DEN
Is it a dog making that mournful howl?
And who is that strange man crouched over there?
He's saying something - no - it is a growl
And on his hands and face - could that be hair?
Wolf-like, on all fours, he starts to prowl
Towards you - better say a prayer!
I hope that you've acquired the SILVER KNIFE
It's the only way that you can save your life!
9. THE OPERATING THEATRE
This operating theatre must fill you
With horror, because bits of bodies lie
Left over from a monster which will chill you
Which Hildebrand is making. Should he descry
His GOLD or KEY on you he'll chloroform you
And pickle you in a tank of alkali
Until he needs an organ or a feature
To make another God-forsaken creature.
10. THE PASSAGEWAY
Hildebrand's monster, I can safely say
Makes Frankenstein appear like a beginner.
And it is lurking in this passageway,
Groping in darkness, searching for its dinner
And YOU are on his menu for today!
There's no escaping, be you saint or sinner,
Unless you have the LUTE in your collection,
For only music soothes his disaffection.
11. THE VAULT
You're standing just outside a massive door
Which guards the way into the secret vault
Where Hildebrand stores his gold. What's more
No other guardian besides lock and bolt
Is to be feared! To raid this treasure store
You'll need the KEY. Insert it and unbolt
The door, and then unlock the chest - don't tarry -
Just help yourself to all that you can carry!
12. MADELINE'S CELL
This is the saddest dungeon of them all
For here in dank and dark, with many a rat
Fair Madeline lies padlocked to the wall.
You'll need the KEY to get her out of that.
But there is worse! Two vicious hounds will maul
All who come near them. Do not risk combat
With these fierce beasts: you mustn't stab or kick them
Or they will tear your throat! You'll have to trick them.
13. THE SPIDER'S LAIR
Cobwebs, like silken curtains, drape this room;
Webs that are bigger, longer, wider,
Even than a fishing net or weaver's loom,
But if not man made - then - oh what a spider
Spun them! - A hairy octopus of doom!
The SILVER KNIFE if boldly plunged inside her,
Ere she awakes, will kill her - but beware
Run the wrong way and her webs will trap you there!
14. AN OUBLIETTE
This gloomy place is called an oubliette
There's only one way in and no way out.
A place to put a prisoner and forget.
No-one can hear however loud you shout.
Your voice goes hoarse; thirst, like a tourniquet
Constricts your throat and fever spreads throughout.
Your quest has ended in this cellaret
And Madeline is waiting for salvation yet.
15. EPILOGUE
The game is o'er and you have lost or won;
Rescued fair Madeline, or lost the strife:
The highest honours go to anyone
Who wins the gold as well as saves his wife.
And to all others, well, you can go on
And try again - unlike in real life -
Though life's dilemmas often are the same:
Perhaps this game is real and life is just a game!
© Kit, 2008
SOLUTION: Take the meat from the kitchen, the poison from the laboratory, and the key from the bedroom. Put the poison on the meat and give it to the dogs. You can then get past them to unlock Madeline. You can also use the key to unlock Hildebrand's gold.
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