 | When life is young |  |
173
EIGHT-DAY CLOCKS
(A Rhyme for Young Calculators)
How often I've sustained a shock,
Since I have owned my eight-day clock!
At first, I wound it once a week,
(Bless me! how the key did creak!)
And then I pondered, “Where 's the need?
The thing would go at even speed
A whole day longer, if neglected;
And I, for one, can't be expected
To wind and wind on every Sunday
A clock that 's bound to run till Monday.”
And yet each week to add a day,
And recollect, is not my way;
And this it is that bothers me;—
My clock and I do not agree.
Since I have owned my eight-day clock!
At first, I wound it once a week,
(Bless me! how the key did creak!)
And then I pondered, “Where 's the need?
The thing would go at even speed
A whole day longer, if neglected;
And I, for one, can't be expected
To wind and wind on every Sunday
A clock that 's bound to run till Monday.”
And yet each week to add a day,
And recollect, is not my way;
And this it is that bothers me;—
My clock and I do not agree.
Suppose you buy an eight-day clock,
And add it to your household stock,
And wind it every week, we'll say,
Heeding not that extra day;
How many times (to be quite clear)
Must it be wound within the year?
And on the other hand suppose
You let it run till toward its close,
And so, on each eighth day, delight
In winding it with gentle might,
And never miss the task—'t is clear,
You'll wind it fewer times a year;
But just how many times, you see,
May best be told by you, not me.
And add it to your household stock,
And wind it every week, we'll say,
Heeding not that extra day;
How many times (to be quite clear)
Must it be wound within the year?
And on the other hand suppose
You let it run till toward its close,
174
In winding it with gentle might,
And never miss the task—'t is clear,
You'll wind it fewer times a year;
But just how many times, you see,
May best be told by you, not me.
| When life is young | |