A New York Child's Garden of Verses

Franklin P. Adams 1881 (Chicago, Illinois) – 1960 (New York City, New York)



(With the usual.)
I

In winter I get up at night,
And dress by an electric light.
In summer, autumn, ay, and spring,
I have to do the self-same thing.

I have to go to bed and hear
Pianos pounding in my ear,
And hear the janitor cavort
With garbage cans within the court.

And does it not seem hard to you
That I should have these things to do?
Is it not hard for us Manhat-
Tan children in a stuffy flat?

II

It is very nice to think
The world is full of food and drink;
But, oh, my father says to me
They cost all of his salaree.

III

When I am grown to man's estate
I shall be very proud and great;
E'en now I have no reverence,
'Cause I read comic supplements.

IV

New York is so full of a number of kids
I'm sure pretty soon we shall be invalids.

V

A child should always say what's true,
And speak when he is spoken to;
And then, when manhood's age he strikes,
He may be boorish as he likes.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

57 sec read
117

Quick analysis:

Scheme XX AABB CCDD EEAX FFXC GGXX XX EEHH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 867
Words 188
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4

Franklin P. Adams

Franklin Pierce Adams was an American columnist known as Franklin P. Adams and by his initials F. P. A.. Famed for his wit, he is best known for his newspaper column, "The Conning Tower", and his appearances as a regular panelist on radio's Information Please. A prolific writer of light verse, he was a member of the Algonquin Round Table of the 1920s and 1930s. more…

All Franklin P. Adams poems | Franklin P. Adams Books

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