Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BUD DISCUSSES CLEANLINESS, by EDGAR ALBERT GUEST Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: First thing in the morning, last I hear at night Last Line: We will not chase our boy away to wash his neck and ears. Alternate Author Name(s): Guest, Eddie Subject(s): Cleanliness | ||||||||
First thing in the morning, last I hear at night, Get it when I come from school: "My, you look a sight! Go upstairs this minute, an' roll your sleeves up high An' give your hands a scrubbing and wipe 'em till they're dry! Now don't stand there and argue, and never mind your tears! And this time please remember to wash your neck and ears." Can't see why ears grow on us, all crinkled like a shell, With lots of fancy carvings that make a feller yell Each time his Ma digs in them to get a speck of dirt, When plain ones would be easy to wash and wouldn't hurt. And I can't see the reason why every time Ma nears, She thinks she's got to send me to wash my neck and ears. I never wash to suit her; don't think I ever will. If I was white as sister, she'd call me dirty still. At night I get a scrubbing and go to bed, and then The first thing in the morning, she makes me wash again. That strikes me as ridiklus; I've thought of it a heap. A feller can't get dirty when he is fast asleep. When I grow up to be a man like Pa, and have a wife And kids to boss around, you bet they'll have an easy life. We won't be at them all the time, the way they keep at me, And kick about a little dirt that no one else can see. And every night at supper time as soon as he appears, We will not chase our boy away to wash his neck and ears. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FROM HERE TO THERE by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE RODNEY DYING: 3 by JEAN VALENTINE THE GROOMING by PATTIANN ROGERS HOUSECLEANING DAY IN VERMONT by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY THE PERNICKETY WIFE by J. KNOX CHRISTIE WASHER-WOMAN by CONSTANCE CRANE THE SIX-O'CLOCK RUSH by THOMAS AUGUSTINE DALY |
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