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Title: Careless Jane
Author: Katharine Pyle [
More Titles by Pyle]
"Come Jane," said grandmamma one day,
"'Tis time you learned to sew;
At your age I could make a frock,
And you should also know."
But Jane cared little for such things;
She liked to make a noise;
She used to run about all day,
And shout, and play with boys.
So now she only tossed her head
And ran with eager feet,
And soon was racing up and down,
And playing in the street.
Once Jane was to a party asked;
Her friends would all be there;
She wore her best sprigged muslin frock,
And ribbons tied her hair.
When she was shown upstairs to lay
Her hat upon the bed,
She saw a little basket there,
With needles, wax and thread.
"I wonder," said untidy Jane,
"If Mattie likes to sew;
I'm glad that I have never learned;
I should not care to know."
With that she laughed and ran downstairs,
But on the way--ah see!
She's caught her skirt upon a nail
And torn it terribly.
If Jane had learned from grandmamma
She might have mended it,
But she had been a thoughtless child
And could not sew a bit.
So with her frock all torn, into
The room she had to go,
And all the children wondering stared
To see her looking so;
Then when Jane played it caught her feet
And almost made her fall;
That shamed her so she ran away
And tried to hide from all.
When nurse at last was sent for her,
How glad was little Jane;
She almost thought she never wished
To romp or play again.
"Oh! grandmamma, dear grandmamma,
Indeed, indeed," said she,
"If now you'll teach me how to sew
A thankful child I'll be."
[The end]
Katharine Pyle's poem: Careless Jane
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