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Poem
August 2, 1888
Wood County Reporter
Wisconsin Rapids, Wood County, Wisconsin
What is this article about?
A reflective poem recounting an old man's proverb that hardships, likened to a pinching shoe, become easier to bear with time, providing strength and consolation in sorrow.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
THE FARM AND HOME
AN OLD MAN'S ADAGE
When but a boy a man I met
Who one good lesson taught me,
That has through all succeeding years
Sweet consolation brought me;
This is the maxim that he gave
(You'll smile when I declare it)
"The pinching shoe grows easier,
The longer that you wear it."
A silly proverb. I confess
Yet priceless truth explaining.
And one that gives in trouble's hour
The strength for calm sustaining;
For every ill doth lighter seem
As more we learn to bear it—
"The pinching shoe grows easier,
The longer that you wear it."
The care that is at first so great.
The once o'erwhelming sorrow,
Will lessen as the days go by
And morrow follows morrow;
Though great the force of grief may be
Time will in part impair it—
The pinching shoe grows easier
The longer that you wear it."
Til time not bring this sure decrease
To bitterness and anguish,
How many, many helpless hearts
In helpless woe would languish:
Ah. well it is we find it true,
How e'er with us may fare it
"The pinching shoe grows easier
The longer that you wear it.
AN OLD MAN'S ADAGE
When but a boy a man I met
Who one good lesson taught me,
That has through all succeeding years
Sweet consolation brought me;
This is the maxim that he gave
(You'll smile when I declare it)
"The pinching shoe grows easier,
The longer that you wear it."
A silly proverb. I confess
Yet priceless truth explaining.
And one that gives in trouble's hour
The strength for calm sustaining;
For every ill doth lighter seem
As more we learn to bear it—
"The pinching shoe grows easier,
The longer that you wear it."
The care that is at first so great.
The once o'erwhelming sorrow,
Will lessen as the days go by
And morrow follows morrow;
Though great the force of grief may be
Time will in part impair it—
The pinching shoe grows easier
The longer that you wear it."
Til time not bring this sure decrease
To bitterness and anguish,
How many, many helpless hearts
In helpless woe would languish:
Ah. well it is we find it true,
How e'er with us may fare it
"The pinching shoe grows easier
The longer that you wear it.
What sub-type of article is it?
Ballad
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Old Mans Adage
Pinching Shoe
Enduring Troubles
Time Consolation
Moral Lesson
Poem Details
Title
An Old Man's Adage
Form / Style
Rhymed Quatrains
Key Lines
"The Pinching Shoe Grows Easier,\Nthe Longer That You Wear It."