That Boy
Is the house turned topsy-turvy?
Does it ring from street to roof?
Will the racket still continue,
Spite of all your mild reproof?
Are you often in a flutter?
Are you sometimes thrilled with joy?
Then I have my grave suspicions
That you have at home--that Boy.
Are your walls and tables hammered?
Are your nerves and ink upset?
Have two eyes, so bright and roguish,
Made you every care forget?
Have your garden beds a prowler,
Who delights but to destroy?
These are well-known indications
That you have at home--that Boy.
Have you seen him playing circus
With his head upon the mat,
And his heels in mid-arm twinkling--
For his audience, the cat?
Do you ever stop to listen,
When his merry planks annoy,--
Listen to a voice that whispers,
You were once just like--that Boy?
Have you heard of broken windows,
And with nobody to blame?
Have you seen a trousered urchin
Quite unconscious of the same?
Do you love a teasing mixture
Of perplexity and joy?
You may have a dozen daughters,
But I know you've got--that Boy.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 84 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | axxabcdC xexebcdC xfxfgchc xigibchc |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 992 |
Words | 185 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
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"That Boy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/3470/that-boy>.
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