I STUDIED my tables over and over, and backward and forward, too; But I couldn't remember six times nine, and I didn't know what to do, Till sister told me to play with my doll, and not to bother my head. "If you call her 'Fifty-four' for a while, you'll learn it by heart," she said. So I took my favorite, Mary Ann (though thought 'twas a dreadful shame To give such a perfectly lovely child such a per fectly horrid name), And I called her my dear little "Fifty-four" a hundred times, till I knew The answer of six times nine as well as the answer of two times two. Next day Elizabeth Wigglesworth, who always acts so proud, Said, "Six times nine is fifty-two," and I nearly laughed aloud! But I wished I hadn't when teacher said, "Now, Dorothy, tell if you can." For I thought of my doll and -- sakes alive! -- I answered, "Mary Ann!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BLACK MONKEY by KATHERINE MANSFIELD THE BATTLE-FIELD by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT ICHABOD by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER LAURENCE BLOOMFIELD IN IRELAND: 6. SPRING by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM GROVER CLEVELAND by JOEL BENTON DEEP SUMMER by HARRIET GRAY BLACKWELL EAGER SPRING by GORDON BOTTOMLEY LIMERICK by ROBERT JONES BURDETTE ON JOHN DOVE [JOHNNY DOW], INNKEEPER OF MAUCHLINE by ROBERT BURNS |