Mary Lamb (1764-1847). A Child's a Plaything for an Hour. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1909. The Book of Georgian Verse

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.

A Child’s a Plaything for an Hour

By Mary Lamb (1764–1847)


A CHILD’S a plaything for an hour;
Its pretty tricks we try
For that or for a longer space—
Then tire, and lay it by.

But I knew one that to itself	5
All seasons could control;
That would have mock’d the sense of pain
Out of a grievèd soul.

Thou straggler into loving arms,
Young climber-up of knees,	10
When I forget thy thousand ways
Then life and all shall cease.