The cruel Boy and the Kittens.
Reading edition
What! go to see the kittens drown’d,
On purpose, in the yard!
I did not think there could be found
A little heart so hard.
Poor kittens! no more pretty play
With pussy’s wagging tail:
Oh! I’d go far enough away,
Before I’d see the pail.
No mother kind, nor pleasant bed,
Nor merry games again!
But there to struggle till you’re dead,
And mew with bitter pain.
Poor things! the little child that can
Be pleased to look and see,
Most likely, when he grows a man,
A cruel man will be.
And many a wicked thing he’ll do,
Because his heart is hard;
A great deal worse than killing you,
Poor kittens, in the yard.