Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE COB HOUSE, by KATE PUTNAM OSGOOD



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE COB HOUSE, by                    
First Line: Willy and charley, eight and ten
Last Line: Might learn a lesson of master will.
Subject(s): Children; Childhood


WILLY and Charley, eight and ten,
Were under the porch in the noonday heat;
I could see and hear the little men,
Unseen, myself, in the window-seat.

Will on a cob house was hard at work,
With a zeal that was funny enough to me.
At eight one has hardly learned to shirk;
That comes later, -- as you will see.

For Charley, by virtue of riper age,
Did nothing but stand and criticise;
His hands in his pockets, stage by stage
He watched the tottering castle rise.

"And now, after all your fuss," says he,
"S'posin' it tumbles down again?"
"Oh," Will answers as cool as could be,
"Of course I should build it better then."

Charley shook sagely his curly head,
Opened his eyes of dancing brown,
And then for a final poser said,
"But s'posin' it always kept tumblin' down?"

Will, however, was not of the stuff
At a loss to be taken so.
"Why, then," he answered ready enough,
"I should keep on building it better, you know."

And, seeing the wise world's wisest knot
Cut at a stroke with such simple skill,
Older people than Charley, I thought,
Might learn a lesson of Master Will.





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