p. 14 | A Parent’s Plea

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Nov 24, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 46.

A Parent’s Plea

MY LITTLE boy is eight years old. He goes to school each day. He doesn’t mind the tasks they set— They seem to him but play. He heads his class at raffia work, And also takes the lead At making dinky paper boats— But I wish that he could read.

They teach him physiology, And, O, it chills our hearts To hear our prattling innocent Mix up his inward parts. He babbles of mythology, And names the stars by night— Of course he’s very up to date, But I wish that he could write.

They teach him things botanical, They teach him how to draw, He babbles of geology And gravitation’s law; And the discoveries of science With him are quite a fad. They tell me he’s a clever boy, But I wish that he could add.

— Life.