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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET, by ABRAHAM LINCOLN Poet's Biography First Line: With what anguish of mind I remember my childhood Last Line: In fact, the slop bucket -- that hung in the well. | |||
(As censored by the Board of Health) WITH WHAT ANGUISH of mind I remember my childhood, Recalled in the light of knowledge since gained, The malarious farm, the wet, fungus-grown wildwood, The chills then contracted that since have remained; The scum-covered duck-pond, the pigsty close by it, The ditch where the sour-smelling house drainage fell, The damp, shaded dwelling, the foul barnyard nigh it -- But worse than all else was that terrible well, And the old oaken bucket, the mold-crusted bucket, The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well. Just think of it! Moss on the vessel that lifted The water I drank in the days called to mind, Ere I knew what professors and scientists gifted In the waters of wells by analysis find; The rotting wood-fiber, the oxide of iron, The algae, the frog of unusual size, The water as clear as the verses of Byron, Are things I remember with tears in my eyes. Oh, had I but realized in time to avoid them The dangers that lurked in that pestilent draft, I'd have tested for organic germs and destroyed them With potassic permanganate ere I had quaffed. Or perchance I'd have boiled it, and afterward strained it Through filters of charcoal and gravel combined; Or, after distilling, condensed and regained it In potable form with its filth left behind. How little I knew of the enteric fever Which lurked in the water I ventured to drink; But since I've become a devoted believer In the teachings of science, I shudder to think. And now, far removed from the scenes I'm describing, The story of warning to others I tell, As memory reverts to my youthful imbibing And I gag at the thought of that horrible well, And the old oaken bucket, the fungus-grown bucket -- In fact, the slop bucket -- that hung in the well. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS by ABRAHAM LINCOLN ALIEN WOMEN; SONGKHLA, THAILAND by KAREN SWENSON THOUGHTS ON THE COMMANDMENTS by GEORGE AUGUSTUS BAKER JR. WHAT I LIVE FOR by GEORGE LINNAEUS BANKS THE INDIAN BURYING GROUND by PHILIP FRENEAU SONNET: 151 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE SINCERE FLATTERY OF R.B. by JAMES KENNETH STEPHEN EPISTLES ON THE CHARACTER AND CONDITION OF WOMEN: 3 by LUCY AIKEN |
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