Cruel Frederick

Heinrich Hoffmann 1809 (Frankfurt,) – 1894 (Frankfurt,)



Here is cruel Frederick, see!
A horrid wicked boy was he;
He caught the flies, poor little things,
And then tore off their tiny wings,
He killed the birds, and broke the chairs,
And threw the kitten down the stairs;
And oh! far worse than all beside,
He whipped his Mary, till she cried.
  
The trough was full, and faithful Tray
Came out to drink one sultry day;
He wagged his tail, and wet his lip,
When cruel Fred snatched up a whip,
And whipped poor Tray till he was sore,
And kicked and whipped him more and more:
At this, good Tray grew very red,
And growled, and bit him till he bled;
Then you should only have been by,
To see how Fred did scream and cry!
  
So Frederick had to go to bed:
His leg was very sore and red!
The Doctor came, and shook his head,
And made a very great to-do,
And gave him nasty physic too.
  
But good dog Tray is happy now;
He has no time to say "Bow-wow!"
He seats himself in Frederick's chair
And laughs to see the nice things there:
The soup he swallows, sup by sup--
And eats the pies and puddings up.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on April 29, 2023

1:02 min read
78

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDD EEFFGGHHII HHHJJ KKLLMM
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,013
Words 208
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 10, 5, 6

Heinrich Hoffmann

Heinrich Hoffmann was a German psychiatrist, who also wrote some short works including Der Struwwelpeter, an illustrated book portraying children misbehaving. more…

All Heinrich Hoffmann poems | Heinrich Hoffmann Books

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