Welcome back to the Daily Poem, a podcast from Goldberry Studios. I'm Sean Johnson, and today is Tuesday, May 28th, 2004. Today we have another poem by Hillare Bellock. It is officially summer break for many students, teachers, and parents.

And it seemed like a perfect time to devote a week to poems about and or aimed at children,

although some of you might disagree about this one, we'll see,

because so many kiddos will be spending more of their time at home.

And then hopefully throughout the summer we'll sprinkle more light verse aimed at children into our schedule.

This one comes from Belloc's book of verse, cautionary tales for children, which is a collection of lighthearted tales of children coming to bad ends when they do bad things. You might not want to

give your children a steady diet of these poems, lest they think that you're out to get them somehow but they are

good for a laugh and this one has at least one or two more poignant notes that we'll get to

this is rebecca who slammed doors for fun and perished miserably.

A trick that everyone abhors in little girls is slamming doors, a wealthy banker's little daughter who lived in Palace Green Bayswater, by name Rebecca Offendort, was given to this

furious sport. She would deliberately go and slam the door like

Billy O to make her Uncle Jacob start. She was not really bad at heart, but only rather rude and wild.

She was an aggravating child. It happened that a marble bust of Abraham was standing just above the door this little lamb had carefully prepared to slam, and down it came.

It knocked her flat.

It laid her out.

She looked like that.

Her funeral sermon, which was long and followed by a sacred song, mentioned her virtues.

It is true, but dwelt upon her vices too,

and showed the dreadful end of one who goes and slams the door for fun.

The children who were brought to hear the awful tale from far and near

were much impressed and inly swore they never more would slam the door,

as often they had done before.

...