Miss Brown Poem by Robert Winthrop

(Miss Bessie B. Brown, librarian and Latin and English teacher at Central School, is remembered fondly by hundred of her students.)

We called her Bessie “Beanpole” Brown, for children can be cruel
To give this appellation to such a precious jewel.
True, she was slim and ramrod straight, her dark hair in a bun,
Her pince-nez on a golden chain, her dress of color dun.
Her Latin was impeccable, her English plain and clear,
Her singing voice in church, they say, was beautiful to hear.
If you were in her study hall, you’d better have a book
For she could calm a raging sea with her reproachful look.
“Flower in the crannied wall” she had us memorize.
And Lo! “The Ancient Mariner” we loved to our surprise.
A four-line verse I wrote for her (though rough in scan and rhyme)
She said showed I had promise and I’d be a bard in time.
Today if we could give a name for that initial “B, ”
I know we’d find another word for someone kind as she.
Miss Brown was brave and brilliant, beneficent and bright,
And, by gosh! She was beautiful, let’s set the record right.