Cleanliness Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDDEEFFGGHAIIJJKK LLIIMMNNOOPP QQRREE| Come my little Robert near | A |
| Fie what filthy hands are here | B |
| Who that e'er could understand | C |
| The rare structure of a hand | C |
| With its branching fingers fine | D |
| Work itself of hands divine | D |
| Strong yet delicately knit | E |
| For ten thousand uses fit | E |
| Overlaid with so clear skin | F |
| You may see the blood within | F |
| And the curious palm disposed | G |
| In such lines some have supposed | G |
| You may read the fortunes there | H |
| By the figures that appear | A |
| Who this hand would choose to cover | I |
| With a crust of dirt all over | I |
| Till it looked in hue and shape | J |
| Like the fore foot of an ape | J |
| Man or boy that works or plays | K |
| In the fields or the highways | K |
| May without offence or hurt | L |
| From the soil contract a dirt | L |
| Which the next clear spring or river | I |
| Washes out and out for ever | I |
| But to cherish stains impure | M |
| Soil deliberate to endure | M |
| On the skin to fix a stain | N |
| Till it works into the grain | N |
| Argues a degenerate mind | O |
| Sordid slothful ill inclined | O |
| Wanting in that self respect | P |
| Which does virtue best protect | P |
| - | |
| - | |
| All endearing cleanliness | Q |
| Virtue next to godliness | Q |
| Easiest cheapest needfull'st duty | R |
| To the body health and beauty | R |
| Who that's human would refuse it | E |
| When a little water does it | E |
Charles Lamb
(1)
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About Cleanliness
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