The Black Monkey
Katherine Mansfield 1888 (Wellington) – 1923 (Fontainebleau, Île-de-France)
My Babbles has a nasty knack
Of keeping monkeys on her back.
A great big black one comes and swings
Right on her sash or pinny strings.
It is a horrid thing and wild
And makes her such a naughty child.
She comes and stands beside my chair
With almost an offended air
And says:--"Oh, Father, why can't I?"
And stamps her foot and starts to cry--
I look at Mother in dismay...
What little girl is this, to-day?
She throws about her nicest toys
And makes a truly dreadful noise
Till Mother rises from her place
With quite a Sunday churchy face
And Babbles silently is led
Into the dark and her own bed.
Never a kiss or one Goodnight,
Never a glimpse of candle light.
Oh, how the monkey simply flies!
Oh, how poor Babbles calls and cries,
Runs from the room with might and main,
"Father dear, I am good again."
When she is sitting on my knee
Snuggled quite close and kissing me,
Babbles and I, we think the same--
Why, that the monkey never came
Only a terrible dream maybe...
What did she have for evening tea?
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 14, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 130 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFF GGHHII JJKKXX LLMMLL |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 986 |
Words | 197 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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