Fraidie-Cat

Clinton Scollard 1860 – 1932



I shan’t tell you what’s his name:
When we want to play a game,
Always thinks that he’ll be hurt,
Soil his jacket in the dirt,
Tear his trousers, spoil his hat,—
Fraidie-Cat! Fraidie-Cat!

Nothing of the boy in him!
“Dasn’t” try to learn to swim;
Says a cow’ll hook; if she
Looks at him he’ll climb a tree;
“Scart” to death at bee or bat,—
Fraidie-Cat! Fraidie-Cat!

Claims there’re ghosts all snowy white
Wandering around at night
In the attic; wouldn’t go
There for anything, I know;
B’lieve he’d run if you said “Scat!”
Fraidie-Cat! Fraidie-Cat!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
109

Quick analysis:

Scheme aabbcC ddeecC ffggcC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 573
Words 102
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6

Clinton Scollard

Clinton Scollard was a prolific American poet and occasional writer of fiction He was a Professor of English at Hamilton College and collaborator and husband of Jessie Belle Rittenhouse more…

All Clinton Scollard poems | Clinton Scollard Books

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