If naughty children are my offspring,
their manners rude, they will my scoff bring.
Cheaters and liars, pompous swearers,
never to fear parental terrors...

Now see this rod of blackened birch
and think of what you heard in church.
Parents must love but birch must use
if virtue's path you boys refuse.

This one was solved by Merlin 3 years ago. The poet's ID will surprise you as his more famous work for children is not at all punitive.
Note- this was taken from lines 25-32 of the mystery poem.

I have no idea what poem you're alluding to, but here is the first octet of Byron's Don Juan : Canto The Second

Oh ye! who teach the ingenuous youth of nations,
Holland, France, England, Germany, or Spain,
I pray ye flog them upon all occasions,
It mends their morals, never mind the pain:
The best of mothers and of educations
In Juan's case were but employ'd in vain,
Since, in a way that 's rather of the oddest, he
Became divested of his native modesty.

... and the 10th octet:

In the mean time, to pass her hours away,
Brave Inez now set up a Sunday school
For naughty children, who would rather play
(Like truant rogues) the devil, or the fool;
Infants of three years old were taught that day,
Dunces were whipt, or set upon a stool:
The great success of Juan's education,
Spurr'd her to teach another generation.

Don't think me rude or naught, please; though I'm a dunce at times, I don't respond to whips but rather may rebel, withdraw, or disappear arising somewhere later but without recall!

sLightly in the dark, Daniel

I had no idea, Ron.


Twas a day much like this that a fellow called Clem
Took his quill from an inkwell and wrote a pure gem –
It’s recited by many certain times of the year
In hopes of stuffed stockings and bunches of cheer.

Tis a clue I have given to locate our good Clem,
Check up on your rooftops for signs of mayhem
After midnight when moonlight is crystalloid clear –
He’s a friendly old chap, so no need to fear…


Merlin

Aha!!!

So it's the last two stanzas of the "other poem" by CCM !

Thanks Merlin!!

deLighting in the search, Daniel

Dear jgdittier,

Thanks to Merlin's hints, I located Clement Clarke Moore and his most famous poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas (The Night Before Christmas).

Absolutely no success locating the poem you paraphrased. It would seem the Internet only wants us to know about his most famous.

Don

Dear Daniel, Merlin and Don,
Lots of sniffin' around and allusions toward the solution but in case someone else reads this, where is the name of the poet and where is the link to the mystery poem?
Cheers, Ron jgd

The link is hidden in my response to you, Ron! Just click the underlined words!

Lightly, Daniel

On a Sunday when little is stirring around
and creatures are resting, not making a sound,
you can follow the trail of these obvious clues –
unless you prefer to continue your snooze…
they will lead you to Clem and his little-known verse,
just click on this BINGO, don’t mutter or curse,
and it takes you right into his intro-duck-shon,
the one that’s upstairs in the para-fray-shon.
Tis the same as JustDaniel found, linked, up above,
but from RPO’s website, it fits like a glove.

Ah, Don, you have found that it’s Clement Clarke Moore,
put that into google and follow the spoor.

I tried three search engines including Google without much success leading to his other poems.

I shall try again.

Don

Yer right, Don.

Google will bring up this one on RPO, but other links don't have much to offer other than the night before.
I visited About and they have several poems listed, but not the above one.

Tis a challenge, fer sure.

M

Gentlemen:
It is not surprizing that this stickler was solved so expeditiously. Talent like cream rises to the top and so I'm pleased that you have made one more "Tribute/Puzzler" known to the world.I'm also not surprized that the 'tecs' here are of the masculine leaning. What with women's lib, I'd think they'd mount their own effort.
I'll have to motivate them some by posting the next one by a poetess.
Cheers, Ron jgd

With due respect, this stickler solution has not yet been revealed here at MM. We need the name of the poem and commentary on how well the paraphrasing.

I feel that MapQuest has been provided and it is merely a matter of opening the treasure box.

Yet to go to RPO, I expect great success.

Don

Dear Don,
I'm not sure whether you're being teased (Merlin loves hints) or it was assumed you were aware of the solution.
Go to Representative Poetry/C.C.Moore and then to his Santa Claus piece, last two stanzas.
Better luck next time!
Cheers, Ron jgd

Dear jgdittier,

Well, Ron, I don't mind being teased to verify laughter remains within my bones. I do not feel I've found it yet. Thanks for the map.

Don

Don, I've just changed the font and color in Post #4 for you. The link has been there since I originally posted it in my second response there... but I just enlarged it for your old eyes.

sLightly blurred myself, Daniel

Wonderful Ron! Oh, I enjoyed the entire thread of this one. The Old Santeclause poem, that Daniel so generously linked, made me smile. Your para tribute is very good. You've captured the style of it.

I remember, at a different site, doing a couple of stanza to one - It was a group thing. I really enjoyed it.

Bravo for this one my friend.

Michelle

Dear JustDaniel,

Ah yes my friend, your link early on did cover the title and text of the sought for poem. I was too busy being important to myself in the quest to read the threads closely. Congratulations on being the first to find where the "X" marked the spot.

I have found "Old Santeclaus" at RPO. Further, it has been hardcopied for closer inspection with Ron's initiating this thread.

My oh my, looking at the clock, I'm late for an important date.

See ya later

Don

Dear Ron,

Comparing yours to the original brings forth a few discrepencies. Mr. Moore made no reference to the birch rod being applied to girls. The culture of his time considered it taboo for several reasons. Somehow girls were more morality bound than boys and not likely to stray. As you well know physical punishment of the fair gender was also risking avoidable harm.

Yours takes up the theme as a parent after the gifts have been left. The implication is a birch rod was left with a strong hint that correction is needed. You wrote "children" which would include all genders.

The other point is Mr. Moore says that it is the command of God to use the rod. Yours makes no mention of higher authority.

Don

Dear Don,
My puzzlers usually cover the entire mystery poem, especially when they're reasonably short.
This on, to be true to the quatrains referenced, covered only what they contained.
I notice no distinction between the girls and boys by Santa except as to the gifts he left. It seems to me that Santa intended for parents to use WITH GOD'S IMPLIED BLESSING
Cheers, Ron jgd
when justified. That's the way I read it.

Dear jgdittier,

I must stand corrected regarding reference to a higher authority. Your's mentions what is heard in church which implies moral guidance.

Don

Hi Ron,

From the commentary in your tribute poems, I feel these threads should be moved out of the critique forum if you really aren't interested in having the membership spend time workshopping them to enhance their message. So, I'd like to pose this thought: If your intent is to introduce and challenge us with tributes from bards of yore in a 'who is it' setting, while much fun, they would be better received in either Karnak Crossing (our education forum) as an exercise where "light critique" can be shared or in Plato's Pearls of Wisdom, our non-crit poetry forum.

With your permission, I'd like to move these threads unless you do have serious intentions on receiving critiques here in Herme's into Karnak. A benefit of Karnak also is that you wouldn't have the forum rule there of needing to post to 2 other members' threads before posting again.

Please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks
Lori

Dear Cleo,
Please relocate them to wherever you think they best fit.
Cheers, ron jgd

Ron,
Interesting fire you started here, and I have enjoyed sitting here by it and feeling it's warmth. It is nice to be back where I can experience Ron's wit & humor, see Merlin's replies. I can't wait to get to know the rest of the crew. I enjoyed your para tribute and could find nothing wrong, but then you probably remember; I am not much of a stickler.
Good job. You had me going.
Brent

Dear Brent,
Great to hear (read) you're active poetically. You've made my day!
I'll be reading and commenting so KEEP WRITING!
Cheers, ron jgd