Charles Augustus Fortescue

Hilaire Belloc 1870 (La Celle-Saint-Cloud) – 1953



The nicest child I ever knew
Was Charles Augustus Fortescue.
He never lost his cap, or tore
His stockings or his pinafore:
In eating Bread he made no Crumbs,
He was extremely fond of sums,

To which, however, he preferred
The Parsing of a Latin Word--
He sought, when it was within his power,
For information twice an hour,

And as for finding Mutton-Fat
Unappatising, far from that!
He often, at his Father's Board,
Would beg them, of his own accord,

To give him, if they did not mind,
The Greasiest Morsels they could find--
His Later Years did not belie
The Promise of his Infancy.
In Public Life he always tried
To take a judgement Broad and Wide;

In Private, none was more than he
Renowned for quiet courtesy.
He rose at once in his Career,
And long before hus Fortieth Year

Had wedded Fifi, Only Child
Of Bunyan, First Lord Aberfylde.
He thus became immensely Rich,
And built the Splendid Mansion which

Is called The Cedars, Muswell Hill,
Where he resides in affluence still,
To show what everybody might
Become by SIMPLY DOING RIGHT.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 02, 2023

56 sec read
54

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXAABB CCDD EEFF GGXHII HHJJ XCKK LLMM
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,015
Words 188
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 6, 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 4

Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902, but kept his French citizenship. more…

All Hilaire Belloc poems | Hilaire Belloc Books

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