 | The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") |  |
BARKER'S BOY.
Yonder he goes, that lad of fourteen years,
Denounced by people as “that Barker's boy;”
Cause of his father's wrath, his mother's tears;
Plague of the house, the neighborhood's annoy,
As nuisance branded;
Denounced by people as “that Barker's boy;”
Cause of his father's wrath, his mother's tears;
Plague of the house, the neighborhood's annoy,
As nuisance branded;
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He breaks the palings of the garden fence;
Throws stones at nothing, reckless where they fall;
Pounds the tin pan with dinning vehemence;
And chalks queer figures on the red brick wall,
In style free-handed.
Throws stones at nothing, reckless where they fall;
Pounds the tin pan with dinning vehemence;
And chalks queer figures on the red brick wall,
In style free-handed.
He climbs the trees—his clothes were made to tear,
He kicks the stones—the cobbler needs employ;
His whoops and yells rise shrilly on the air;
In aimless mischief lies his chiefest joy,
All quiet scorning;
He kicks the stones—the cobbler needs employ;
His whoops and yells rise shrilly on the air;
In aimless mischief lies his chiefest joy,
All quiet scorning;
Sunburned and freckled, turbulent, untamed,
Cats flee his presence, pet dogs keep aloof;
For all unfathered damage he is blamed;
Subject of finger-threatening, sharp reproof,
And angry warning.
Cats flee his presence, pet dogs keep aloof;
For all unfathered damage he is blamed;
Subject of finger-threatening, sharp reproof,
And angry warning.
You look upon him as the village pest;
You greet him with a cold, forbidding frown,
Or smile contemptuous at his strange unrest,
And feel a strong desire to batter down
His way defiant;
You greet him with a cold, forbidding frown,
Or smile contemptuous at his strange unrest,
And feel a strong desire to batter down
His way defiant;
But, tell me! did you come to being then,
Cast at beginning in a perfect mould,
Ready at birth to take your place with men,
Self-poised, self-regulated, self-controlled,
And self-reliant?
Cast at beginning in a perfect mould,
Ready at birth to take your place with men,
Self-poised, self-regulated, self-controlled,
And self-reliant?
I think that all true men have had his ways—
At least were quite as thoughtless at his age:
And, notwithstanding Weems, the preacher, says,
That Washington as boy was grave and sage,
I doubt the story;
At least were quite as thoughtless at his age:
And, notwithstanding Weems, the preacher, says,
That Washington as boy was grave and sage,
I doubt the story;
262
Bacon and Newton both at marbles played,
Engaged in mischief, and were flogged at times;
Cæsar his father troubled—had he stayed
Always a boy, his life had fewer crimes,
And he, less glory.
Engaged in mischief, and were flogged at times;
Cæsar his father troubled—had he stayed
Always a boy, his life had fewer crimes,
And he, less glory.
This Barker's boy is ill-conditioned, quite;
Yet in the wildest nature ever seen,
The darkest spot is not without its light;
The arid waste has still one spot of green
To half relieve it;
Yet in the wildest nature ever seen,
The darkest spot is not without its light;
The arid waste has still one spot of green
To half relieve it;
And when I heard that wrinkled Granny Jones,
Who dwells in yonder hovel, weak of limb,
Poor, lone, and friendless, spoke in feeling tones
Her lively sense of gratitude to him,
I could believe it.
Who dwells in yonder hovel, weak of limb,
Poor, lone, and friendless, spoke in feeling tones
Her lively sense of gratitude to him,
I could believe it.
When that old woman sick and bed-fast lay,
Shunned by her neighbors as reputed witch,
That boy of Barker served her day by day,
As tenderly as she were great and rich,
Through kindness only;
Shunned by her neighbors as reputed witch,
That boy of Barker served her day by day,
As tenderly as she were great and rich,
Through kindness only;
Begged food and fuel, brought the doctor there,
And coaxed his mother to old granny's side;
Roused older people's sympathy through his prayer;
Without his care the woman might have died,
Unhelped and lonely.
And coaxed his mother to old granny's side;
Roused older people's sympathy through his prayer;
Without his care the woman might have died,
Unhelped and lonely.
Therefore restrain your stern forbidding looks;
Kindness is best to move a heart that's kind;
Your model boy lives but in story-books,
And there dies young; if not to errors blind,
See traits redeeming;
Kindness is best to move a heart that's kind;
Your model boy lives but in story-books,
And there dies young; if not to errors blind,
See traits redeeming;
263
Wait till his manhood to its height is bred;
Wait till the froth of youth has blown away,—
Till older shoulders find an older head,
And on the last behold the kindly ray
Of virtue beaming.
Wait till the froth of youth has blown away,—
Till older shoulders find an older head,
And on the last behold the kindly ray
Of virtue beaming.
| The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") | |