Searching for a poem !!!

[magannyelvora]

Hi!

Could you help me, please. It would be urgent.
I'm searching for an American poem with the theme of honesty, telling the truth or lying.

I'm a university student and fun of poetry.

Thank you.

[YesNo]

Here is a link to poems about honesty: http://www.poemhunter.com/poems/honesty/

[Lokasenna]

He wasn't American, but I think Hilaire Belloc can supply what you need:

Matilda Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death

Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes;
Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest Youth,
Had kept a Strict Regard for Truth,
Attempted to Believe Matilda:
The effort very nearly killed her,
And would have done so, had not She
Discovered this Infirmity.
For once, towards the Close of Day,
Matilda, growing tired of play,
And finding she was left alone,
Went tiptoe to the Telephone
And summoned the Immediate Aid
Of London's Noble Fire-Brigade.
Within an hour the Gallant Band
Were pouring in on every hand,
From Putney, Hackney Downs, and Bow.
With Courage high and Hearts a-glow,
They galloped, roaring through the Town,
'Matilda's House is Burning Down!'
Inspired by British Cheers and Loud
Proceeding from the Frenzied Crowd,
They ran their ladders through a score
Of windows on the Ball Room Floor;
And took Peculiar Pains to Souse
The Pictures up and down the House,
Until Matilda's Aunt succeeded
In showing them they were not needed;
And even then she had to pay
To get the Men to go away,
It happened that a few Weeks later
Her Aunt was off to the Theatre
To see that Interesting Play
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray.
She had refused to take her Niece
To hear this Entertaining Piece:
A Deprivation Just and Wise
To Punish her for Telling Lies.
That Night a Fire did break out--
You should have heard Matilda Shout!
You should have heard her Scream and Bawl,
And throw the window up and call
To People passing in the Street--
(The rapidly increasing Heat
Encouraging her to obtain
Their confidence) -- but all in vain!
For every time she shouted 'Fire!'
They only answered 'Little Liar!'
And therefore when her Aunt returned,
Matilda, and the House, were Burned.

[Jackson Richardson]

Not only not American, but the tongue very firmly in the cheek.

I can recite it by heart.

[prendrelemick]

One of my all time favourites. - "And took peculiar pains to souse, The pictures up and down the
house."

The collection was called "Cautionary Tales for Children." by Hillaire Belloc.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27424...-h/27424-h.htm

It is completely brilliant

[Jackson Richardson]

Even more brilliant to my mind and relevant to this board is Belloc's story of Sarah Byng

..who couldn't read or write a line.
Her sister Jane, though barely nine,
Could spout the Catechism through
And parts of Matthew Arnold too,
While little Bill, who came between,
Was quite unaturally keen
On Athalie by Jean Racine.
But not so Sarah, not so Sal.
She was a most uncultured gal.

[prendrelemick]

^ That is brilliant.

[Jackson Richardson]

It is, isn't it?