| Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern American Poetry. 1919. |
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| Franklin P. Adams. 1881– |
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| 89. Those Two Boys |
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| WHEN Bill was a lad he was terribly bad. | |
| He worried his parents a lot; | |
| He'd lie and he'd swear and pull little girls' hair; | |
| His boyhood was naught but a blot. | |
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| At play and in school he would fracture each rule— | 5 |
| In mischief from autumn to spring; | |
| And the villagers knew when to manhood he grew | |
| He would never amount to a thing. | |
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| When Jim was a child he was not very wild; | |
| He was known as a good little boy; | 10 |
| He was honest and bright and the teacher's delight— | |
| To his mother and father a joy. | |
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| All the neighbors were sure that his virtue'd endure, | |
| That his life would be free of a spot; | |
| They were certain that Jim had a great head on him | 15 |
| And that Jim would amount to a lot. | |
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| And Jim grew to manhood and honor and fame | |
| And bears a good name; | |
| While Bill is shut up in a dark prison cell— | |
| You never can tell. | 20 |
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