The Works of John Hookham Frere In Verse and Prose Now First Collected with a Prefatory Memoir by his Nephews W. E. and Sir Bartle Frere |
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Of the Boy and his Top. |
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 | The Works of John Hookham Frere In Verse and Prose |  |
FABLE I. Of the Boy and his Top.
A little boy had bought a Top,
The best in all the toyman's shop;
He made a whip with good eel's-skin,
He lash'd the top, and made it spin;
All the children within call,
And the servants, one and all,
Stood round to see it and admire.
At last the Top began to tire,
He cried out, “Pray don't whip me, Master,
“You whip too hard,—I can't spin faster,
“I can spin quite as well without it.”
The little Boy replied, “I doubt it;
“I only whip you for your good,
“You were a foolish lump of wood,
“By dint of whipping you were raised
“To see yourself admired and praised,
“And if I left you, you'd remain
“A foolish lump of wood again.”
The best in all the toyman's shop;
He made a whip with good eel's-skin,
He lash'd the top, and made it spin;
All the children within call,
And the servants, one and all,
Stood round to see it and admire.
At last the Top began to tire,
He cried out, “Pray don't whip me, Master,
“You whip too hard,—I can't spin faster,
“I can spin quite as well without it.”
The little Boy replied, “I doubt it;
“I only whip you for your good,
“You were a foolish lump of wood,
“By dint of whipping you were raised
“To see yourself admired and praised,
“And if I left you, you'd remain
“A foolish lump of wood again.”
Explanation.
Whipping sounds a little odd,It don't mean whipping with a rod,
It means to teach a boy incessantly,
Whether by lessons or more pleasantly,
Every hour and every day,
By every means, in every way,
264
By riding to see sights, and walking:
If you leave off he drops at once,
A lumpish, wooden-headed dunce.
| The Works of John Hookham Frere In Verse and Prose | |