Their childhood is so brief that we <br />Should hesitate to spoil their fun, <br />We should be very slow to see <br />The things that they should not have done. <br />For such a little while they play <br />Before the rough, long roads they tread, <br />We should be careful every day <br />To send no weeping child to bed. <br /> <br />So soon they'll women be and men, <br />With all the cares that grown-ups know, <br />We should be slow to punish, when <br />Their little feet in mischief go. <br />Our whippings should be very few, <br />Yes, very few, and very mild, <br />We should be careful what we do <br />In dealing with a happy child. <br /> <br />So few the years that are their own, <br />So brief the time to romp and play, <br />So very quickly are they grown <br />To face the battles of the day <br />That we should hesitate to mar <br />With punishment, however slight, <br />The days that oh, so precious are, <br />And turn to grief a child's delight. <br /> <br />Too soon will come the long days when <br />They'll often heavy-hearted be, <br />And they'll look back on childhood then <br />And think of you and think of me. <br />And we should have them then recall <br />When we are sleeping in the grave <br />Not how we punished children small, <br />But how we kissed them and forgave.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/punishment-22/
