Punctuality

Lewis Carroll 1832 (Daresbury) – 1898 (Guildford)



Man Naturally loves delay,
And to procrastinate;
Business put off from day to day
Is always done to late.

Let ever hour be in its place
Firm fixed, nor loosely shift,
And well enjoy the vacant space,
As though a birthday gift.

And when the hour arrives, be there,
Where'er that "there" may be;
Uncleanly hands or ruffled hair
Let no one ever see.

If dinner at "half-past" be placed,
At "half-past" then be dressed.
If at a "quarter-past" make haste
To be down with the rest

Better to be before you time,
Than e're to be behind;
To open the door while strikes the chime,
That shows a punctual mind.

Moral:

Let punctuality and care
Seize every flitting hour,
So shalt thou cull a floweret fair,
E'en from a fading flower

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 21, 2023

41 sec read
135

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ EKEK
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 703
Words 134
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. more…

All Lewis Carroll poems | Lewis Carroll Books

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