Shāntián Tàiláng

Hello, folks.

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Me (now😭) on Wiktionary
(My glory days on Wiktionary🙃😥😇)

A poem titled "Of the truthful George and the Observing Lad" edit

Today we had a holiday because
George Washington is dead. You know he was
The only man that never told a lie
Which makes it all the worse he had to die.
When teacher wrote it on the board and said
How old he was and how long he was dead
And asked what he died of, Joe Bensen says
"I guess he must have died of lonesomeness."
And when she said he couldn't lie and that's
The truth, why Willy Pearson he said rats
If that was true he's in an awful fix
Was George when he got into politics. source

A poem titled "Of the Diagnosis of Unwonted Industry" edit

He's awful small and is not much for looks
But my, he's awful awful smart in books
And never whispers in his seat and so
He goes right on when we don't pass, you know.
And when examination comes he makes
A perfect in his studies and he takes
His books home nights and does the chores and then
He studies all his lessons until ten
Or twelve o'clock and when vacation comes
He's sad because there's no such thing as sums.

Nobody knows what makes him study so
But Henry Bemus said it looks as though
Some secret crime was eating out his heart
And that is why he always keeps apart
From all of us and goes to school alone
As though he hopes perhaps he can atone
For what he's done. And Henry said he heard
In olden times how men don't speak a word
But beat their breasts and wear coarse clothes to show
Their true repentance for their deeds, you know.

And Henry thinks he may have drownded cats
Or tied a can to some good dog and that's
The reason why he studies hard to keep
Remorse away until he goes to sleep.
And Henry said you're often apt to find
Some terrible deed of wickedness behind
Great righteousness. And in the dead of night
You look up in his room and see a light
Where he's at work and, oh, you're awful glad
You've never done a deed that's very bad. source