I took the book of punishment, <br />And ran its columns down; <br />I started with an open brow <br />And ended with a frown; <br />I noted long-forgotten names – <br />They took me unaware; <br />I noted old familiar names. <br />But my names wasn’t there! <br /> <br />I thought of what I might have been, <br />And Oh! My heart was pained <br />To find, of all the scholars there, <br />That I was never caned! <br />I thought of wasted childhood hours, <br />And a tear rolled down my cheek – <br />I must have been a model boy, <br />Which means a little sneak! <br /> <br />“Oh, give me back my youth again!” <br />Doc Faustus used to say – <br />I only wish the Powers could give <br />My boyhood for a day, <br />A model boy! Beloved of girls! <br />Despised by boys and men! <br />But it comforts me to think that I’ve <br />Made up for it since then.<br /><br />Henry Lawson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-looking-through-an-old-punishment-book-at-eurunderee-school/
