Papa’s Treasure
By Alfred Osmond
Freckled face and tangled hair.
Dirty hands, and rags to wear,
Ways that make his father swear,
Yet a precious treasure.
Language that is crude and coarse,
Voice that yells and gets not hoarse,
Free from trouble and remorse.
Papa’s little treasure.
Starlight dances in his eyes,
Moonlight in his dimple lies,
Sunlight with his spirit vies —
Papa’s fairest treasure.
Search the world, from east to west,
You will find no man more blest —
I have found and loved the best,
Papa’s priceless treasure.
God protect my darling boy,
Let not’ sin his life destroy,
Let him always be my joy —
Papa’s peerless treasure.
May his mind be bright and strong,
May his life be great and long,
Chaste and sweet as angel’s song —
Papa’s dearest treasure.
If he cannot bless my name.
If his life must reek with shame,
God in heaven, do not blame
This, my little treasure;
Bid him leave his childish play,
Take him from this world away,
Let his little bones decay, —
Papa’s sweetest treasure.
In thy mansions fair above,
I would meet the boy I love,
Chaste and stainless as a dove, —
Papa’s darling treasure.
(1914)
This makes me sort of uncomfortable.
Me, too. Started out fine. Got creepy. Ended ghastly.
Kind of a recipe for a broken family, don’tcha think?
I see in it that “I’d rather my child be dead than dishonored” bit — which I think is a perversion of its original “It would be easier to see my child dead than dishonored” form. The “it would be easier” form — which doesn’t suggest that a parent would prefer a dead child — is hard enough to parse sympathetically, but this poem is actually calling on God to kill the child before he lets that happen.
Yeah, if I were mother or child, I’d think twice about Papa.
Well, that didn’t go as expected. Kind of took an “American Horror Story” turn there.
I just attended a class last night that was mostly about the topic of suicide. I’m shuddering. I know plenty of gay men who considered or attempted suicide because they heard this from their fathers.
(Hit Add accidentally.) It was my job for a number of years to talk to the parents and tell them to stop saying or believing that.