VI The Good Scholar
Joseph West had been told,
That if, when he grew old,
He had not learnt rightly to spell,
Though his writing were good,
’Twould not be understood,
And Joe said, “I will learn my task well.”
And he made it a rule
To be silent at school,
And what do you think came to pass?
Why, he learnt it so fast,
That, from being the last,
He soon was the first in the class.