KINDNESS TO ANIMALS

MORAL MAXIMS FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF BOTH SEXES

Original Text

A. J. M. Smith, The Complete Poems, ed. Brian Trehearne (London, Ontario: Canadian Poetry Press, 2007): 188-89.

1Be kind to animals, my child:

2Don’t make the gentle ringworm wild.

3Little children shouldn’t tease

4Little Fido’s littler fleas.

5When you see th’industrious ant

6Too heavy burdened toil and pant,

7Ease him of his irksome load,

8Lift it for him down the road.

9Don’t bite the little worm in half

10That in your lettuce hides—just laugh,

11Politely stroke his slimy head,

12And eat some other things instead.

13Speak not harshly to the moth

14Though she dines on fur and cloth,

15Remember everyone must eat,

16--Why not offer her a treat?—

17Cut a large sized bit of fur

18From your coat and give it her,

19Such unselfishness as this

20Will fill your Mother’s heart with bliss.

21And lastly, pray do not encroach

22With heavy tread upon the roach,

23The insect’s jellified remains

24Afflict the rugs with horrid stains.

25Be gentle to these fellow creatures,

26And ever learn to love your teachers.

Publication Start Year

1924

Publication Notes

The McGill Daily

RPO poem Editors

Ian Lancashire / Sharine Leung

RPO Edition

2011

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