I HEARD the bonehead parent say, "Now, Clarence, put your toy away, and toddle off to bed." And Clarence, pampered little boy, proceeded to dissect the toy, to amputate its head. In half an hour the parent said, "Now, Clarence, you must go to bed—I told you once before." But little Clarence paid no heed; his hobbyhorse he ran with speed, around the parlor floor. Ten minutes later Father cried, "Now son, I will not be denied—it's time you were asleep." But Clarence harkened not to that; he pushed some pins into the cat, and made the critter Weep. And then I thought of other days, of other parents and their ways, and of my father's stick; he never gave an order twice; and if I balked I paid the price, which made me sore and sick. Perhaps my father was too prone to lam my person till each bone felt like an aching tooth; but since that parent made me scream, we've reached the opposite extreme, the boss is giddy youth. And how I yearn to have a club when some precocious little dub ignores his dad's commands; how I would like to comb his hair, and groom his person with a chair, and pat him with my hands! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE STATE OF WYOMING by KAREN SWENSON ODE TO SPRING by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD MEMORABILIA by ROBERT BROWNING INSCRIPTION FOR A FOUNTAIN ON A HEATH by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE ECSTASY [EXTASIE] by JOHN DONNE THE MOWER'S SONG by ANDREW MARVELL GOOD-NIGHT by PHILIP EDWARD THOMAS |