The Clock
There's a neat little clock,--
In the schoolroom it stands,--
And it points to the time
With its two little hands.
And may we, like the clock,
Keep a face clean and bright,
With hands ever ready
To do what is right.
This rhyme is best known from The Real Mother Goose (1916), although it may have circulated in schoolrooms even earlier. Its exact first appearance is uncertain, but it clearly belongs to the tradition of late-Victorian moral verse — the kind teachers used to quietly encourage neatness, obedience, and cheerful effort.
Rather than wagging a finger, it whispers an example. The clock never fusses. It simply shines and does its job. The message is: live like that — clean in spirit, helpful in deed.
It’s not a riddle or a fantasy rhyme — but a gentle moral reminder, spoken in kindness rather than sternness.
