Petrus van Schendel, Dutch-Belgian
Every Year, Alyssa Liked To Get Her Holiday Shopping Done Early (at 4:30AM To Be Exact), 1840
Oil on panel
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Info, or perhaps links that point to more info, about this artist can be found here (archived, if necessary), here, here, here, and here, perhaps in addition to what’s in his Wikipedia page (Google translated Dutch Wikipedia page has more).
/// Dawn to dusk she must tend to her crops;
at The Noordermarkt by Night she shops.
When it’s dark there’s a way
to grab goods but not pay:
Blow his candle out— run from the cops!
/// There’s no moon in skies filled with thick clouds,
so there’s darkness that hides and enshrouds.
The robbed peddler, she knew,
can’t afford to pursue,
and she plans to get lost in the crowds.
/// But there’s someone else there who perceives
actions taken by probable thieves.
The peddler’s dog sees
when she snatches and flees,
so he tracks the crook down and retrieves.
/// He’s a well-trained and quick, agile pooch,
who will catch and grab hold of the mooch.
She will not get away;
he’s relentless that way.
(She was nabbed ‘cause she smelled of cheap hooch!)
/// While she waited for transport to jail,
the thief learned she’d been destined to fail.
As the dog and she fought
over items not bought,
someone stole her cash (needed for bail).
/// In the Noordermarkt’s jostling throng,
there’d been pickpockets hid all along.
They, too, come here at night
when the absence of light
makes it just the right time to do wrong.
/// It is not merely dark, people choke
when the air’s thick with black sooty smoke.
Heating homes was their goal,
but they’ve burnt too much coal.
(Things don’t always go better with coke.)