Those Two Boys
Franklin P. Adams 1881 (Chicago, Illinois) – 1960 (New York City, New York)
WHEN Bill was a lad he was terribly bad.
He worried his parents a lot;
He'd lie and he'd swear and pull little girls' hair;
His boyhood was naught but a blot.
At play and in school he would fracture each rule— 5
In mischief from autumn to spring;
And the villagers knew when to manhood he grew
He would never amount to a thing.
When Jim was a child he was not very wild;
He was known as a good little boy;
He was honest and bright and the teacher's delight—
To his mother and father a joy.
All the neighbors were sure that his virtue'd endure,
That his life would be free of a spot;
They were certain that Jim had a great head on him 15
And that Jim would amount to a lot.
And Jim grew to manhood and honor and fame
And bears a good name;
While Bill is shut up in a dark prison cell—
You never can tell.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 30, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 261 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXA XBXB XCXC XAXA DDEE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 892 |
Words | 180 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Those Two Boys" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/14175/those-two-boys>.
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