Classic and Contemporary Poetry
FATHER'S CHORE, by EDGAR ALBERT GUEST Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: My pa can hit his thumbnail with a hammer and keep still Last Line: When the water in it splashes down his front. Alternate Author Name(s): Guest, Eddie Subject(s): Fathers | ||||||||
My Pa can hit his thumbnail with a hammer and keep still; He can cut himself while shaving an' not swear; If a ladder slips beneath him an' he gets a nasty spill He can smile as though he really didn't care. But the pan beneath the ice-box -- when he goes to empty that -- Then a sound-proof room the children have to hunt; For we have a sad few minutes in our very pleasant flat When the water in it splashes down his front. My Pa believes his temper should be all the time controlled; He doesn't rave at every little thing; When his collar-button underneath the chiffonier has rolled A snatch of merry ragtime he will sing. But the pan beneath the ice box -- when to empty that he goes -- As he stoops to drag it out we hear a grunt; From the kitchen comes a rumble, an' then everybody knows That he splashed the water in it down his front. Now the distance from the ice box to the sink's not very far -- I'm sure it isn't over twenty feet -- But though very short the journey, it is long enough for Pa As he travels it disaster grim to meet. And it's seldom that he makes it without accident, although In the summer time it is his nightly stunt; And he says a lot of language that no gentleman should know When the water in it splashes down his front. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PLAYING DEAD by ANDREW HUDGINS PRAYER BEFORE BED by ANDREW HUDGINS THE FUNERAL SERMON by ANDREW HUDGINS ELEGY FOR MY FATHER, WHO IS NOT DEAD by ANDREW HUDGINS EUROPE AND AMERICA by DAVID IGNATOW EUROPE AND AMERICA by DAVID IGNATOW ESTATE SALE by WAYNE KOESTENBAUM |
|