Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CHILDREN AND SIR NAMELESS, by THOMAS HARDY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Sir nameless, once of athelhall, declared Last Line: "who was this old stone man beneath our toes?" Subject(s): Children; Mothers; Childhood | ||||||||
SIR NAMELESS, once of Athelhall, declared: "These wretched children romping in my park Trample the herbage till the soil is bared, And yap and yell from early morn till dark! Go keep them harnessed to their set routines: Thank God I've none to hasten my decay; For green remembrance there are better means Than offspring, who but wish their sires away." Sir Nameless of that mansion said anon: "To be perpetuate for my mightiness Sculpture must image me when I am gone." -- He forthwith summoned carvers there express To shape a figure stretching seven-odd feet (For he was tall) in alabaster stone, With shield, and crest, and casque, and sword complete: When done a statelier work was never known. Three hundred years hied; Church-restorers came, And, no one of his lineage being traced, They thought an effigy so large in frame Best fitted for the floor. There it was placed, Under the seats for schoolchildren. And they Kicked out his name, and hobnailed off his nose; And, as they yawn through sermon-time, they say, "Who was this old stone man beneath our toes?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE AND THERE WAS A GREAT CALM' by THOMAS HARDY |
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