And when she was good, she was very very good....

Emerson, he was trying to teach people how to pronounce "forehead."

Thank you, paulaj!

You learn something new every day - I say fore-head. I'm guessing its supposed to be fo-read?

He wants us to pronounce it like "forrid." I pronounce it fore-head.

I think I read somewhere that he disdained it when people pronounced it "fore-head," which is why he came up with that poem.

I buy old books at yard sales, I might have read it in one of them. I'm going to search the internet, I'm curious all over again :-)

I have a childrens book thats 114 years old, and it has a poem about a boy who wouldn't close doors.

I'll go find it, it's adorable.

SHUT THE DOOR!

Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore -
No doubt you have heard his name before -
Was a boy who never would shut a door!

The wind might whistle, the wind might roar,
And teeth be aching, and throats be soar,
But still he would never shut the door.

His father would beg, his mother implore,
"Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore,
We really do wish you would shut the door!"

Their hands they wrung, their hair they tore,
But Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore
Was deaf as a buoy out at the Nore.

When he walked forth the folks would roar,--
"Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore,
Why don't you think to shut the door?"

They rigged out a shutter, with sail and oar,
And threatened to pack off Gustavus Gore
On a voyage of penance to Singapore.

But he begged for mercy and said, "No more!
Pray do not send me to Singapore
On a shutter, and then I will shut the door!"

"You will?" said the parent; "then keep on shore;
But mind you do! For the plague is sore."
Oh a fellow that never will shut the door --
Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore.


I don't know who the author is, the book was published in "1881. It has block prints, I love it.

Yeah! Thank you.

I found this one in a Shel Silverstein book ...

Listen to the MUSTN'TS child
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me -
Anything can happen, child
ANYTHING can be

Okay, so its not about human behavior but it might work for my little project.....

What a wonderful book that must be! How funny to find a poem like that from that period of time.

Just great!

Emerson goes on:

She stood on her head in her little trundle bed
And nobody cared worth a flinder.
She screamed and she squalled
And she kicked and she bawled
And she drummed her little heels against the winder.

Her mother heard the noise
And thought it was the boys
Playing in the empty attic.

So she rushed upstairs
And caught her unawares
And spanked her most emphatic.


Have you checked out Slovenly Peter?

.

http://www.fln.vcu.edu/struwwel/petereng.html

Here's the first verse of the first poem:

See Slovenly Peter! Here he stands,
With his dirty hair and hands.
See! his nails are never cut;
They are grim'd as black as soot;
No water for many weeks,
Has been near his cheeks;
And the sloven, I declare,
Not once this year has combed his hair!
Anything to me is sweeter
Than to see shock-headed Peter.

Some people feel that these moral tales are too grim for children, but children I have know have adored Horrid Examples Getting Just Deserts.

Those are wonderful, Noddy! I had no idea that the curl girl had more story. And I know and love a slovenly Peter.

paulaj's poem reminded me so much of Shel Silverstein's "Sarah Cyntia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out"

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage out!
She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans,
Candy the yams and spice the hams,
And though her daddy would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And so it piled up to the ceilings:
Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
Brown bananas, rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese.
It filled the can, it covered the floor,
It cracked the window and blocked the door
With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,
Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crusts and withered greens,
Soggy beans and tangerines,
Crusts of black burned buttered toast,
Gristly bits of beefy roasts. . .
The garbage rolled on down the hall,
It raised the roof, it broke the wall. . .
Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,
Globs of gooey bubble gum,
Cellophane from green baloney,
Rubbery blubbery macaroni,
Peanut butter, caked and dry,
Curdled milk and crusts of pie,
Moldy melons, dried-up mustard,
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,
Cold french fried and rancid meat,
Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.
At last the garbage reached so high
That it finally touched the sky.
And all the neighbors moved away,
And none of her friends would come to play.
And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said,
"OK, I'll take the garbage out!"
But then, of course, it was too late. . .
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate.
And there, in the garbage she did hate,
Poor Sarah met an awful fate,
That I cannot now relate
Because the hour is much too late.
But children, remember Sarah Stout
And always take the garbage out!

I for one always thought the curl girl hilarious. I had no idea that she was in such good company!

One of Mo's favorite stories is Dr. Suess' "Gerald McBoingBoing" where the kid who drives his parents and teachers nuts end up a bona fide celebrity!

And I'm thinking too how the neighborhood kids all love the Lemony Snicket "Series of Unfortunate Events" (which I've been collecting for Mo and reading on the sly) and my own young fascination with Edward Gorey stories.

We've certainly strayed from the topic but I think I like this one even better!

I'm mad for Jacob TwoTwo.

Trying to find the lyrics to some of the songs written by Dennis Lee and Jim Betts for Jacob Two Two and the Hooded Fang. <dang>

I think I'm enjoying these poems more than a child would. <snicker>

For those of you who might not know Edward Gorey: (I hope this works...)

What is "ennui?"

"ennui" is sadness or depression.

The Gorey house is near Boston/Cambridge.

hmmmmmm, I always thought ennui was a sort of posh type of boredom
an Oscar Wilde type of thing
must look it up

after I get the penguin over the giraffe

Is it dreadful?