Tapley @ Bicentennial

A Local Bicentennial Epic (Lynnfield, MA)

Old Joseph Tapley lived very happily,
In the fields to the North-west of Lynn.
His trees there were appley, maples dripped sappily,
All in all, a nice place to be in!

Put your mind to the scenes of the early eighteens,
And I’ll tell you a story of how,
Tapley’s life ended, but newly appended,
By work that is going on now.

Of a winter quite chill, old Joe went up the hill,
With an ax and his helpful son Jesse,
In an oxen-drawn sled which was heavy as lead,
Being powered by Elmer and Bessie.

While old Joseph stood and whacked up the wood,
He thought of his projects a-plenty;
A family tomb with abundance of room,
And a tavern with “Lodgings for Rente.”

As they headed for home, Joe’s mind was still roam
-ing o’er plans, and was not on the road.
He slipped on the ice, did a half-gainer twice,
Caught himself, but then tripped on the goad!

“I’m bound for that hole, on Chestnut and Lowell,”
Cried Tapley now oddly loquacious.
That grave cave I’ve hewn will inherit me soon,
And I’m glad that I built it so spacious!

Then Jesse said, “Pop, I suggest that you stop
Your absurd acrobatic creations,
For these runners are keen as any I‘ve seen,
And I foresee severed relations!”

But still old Joe slid, like an Orr scoring bid,
O’er the ice, ‘til he stopped ‘neath the blade.
But thanks to the Tricketts for mortar and bricketts,
Our memories of Tapley shan’t fade.

– Irwin Schuster

This is a poem written and published in the Lynnfield Shopper’s News in 1976. The subject is a house and tomb at the corner of Chestnut and Lowell streets, still standing, which became a tavern, and later back to a private dwelling, owned by the Trickett family. These good folks, on the Bicentennial, were refurbishing the monument. It is a reasonably accurate account of the demise of Joseph Tapley, as reported.