Attend my words, my gentle knave, <br /> And you shall learn from me <br /> How boys at dinner may behave <br /> With due propriety. <br /> <br /> Guard well your hands: two things have been <br /> Unfitly used by some; <br /> The trencher for a tambourine, <br /> The table for a drum. <br /> <br /> We could not lead a pleasant life, <br /> And 'twould be finished soon, <br /> If peas were eaten with the knife, <br /> And gravy with the spoon. <br /> <br /> Eat slowly: only men in rags <br /> And gluttons old in sin <br /> Mistake themselves for carpet bags <br /> And tumble victuals in. <br /> <br /> The privy pinch, the whispered tease, <br /> The wild, unseemly yell -- <br /> When children do such things as these, <br /> We say, "It is not well." <br /> <br /> Endure your mother's timely stare, <br /> Your father's righteous ire, <br /> And do not wriggle on your chair <br /> Like flannel in the fire. <br /> <br /> Be silent: you may chatter loud <br /> When you are fully grown, <br /> Surrounded by a silent crowd <br /> Of children of your own. <br /> <br /> If you should suddenly feel bored <br /> And much inclined to yawning, <br /> Your little hand will best afford <br /> A modest useful awning. <br /> <br /> Think highly of the Cat: and yet <br /> You need not therefore think <br /> That portly strangers like your pet <br /> To share their meat and drink. <br /> <br /> The end of dinner comes ere long <br /> When, once more full and free, <br /> You cheerfully may bide the gong <br /> That calls you to your tea.<br /><br />Sir Walter Raleigh<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/stans-puer-ad-mensam/
