A grown-up catches young Mary red-handed after a fight with her little sister. The poem is the adult’s scolding, but it’s not just anger. You can hear genuine bafflement: why would children who should be gentle scratch and squabble like this? The speaker’s voice shifts between firmness and coaxing, horrified at the sight of an angry child but also moved by the smaller one’s tears. There’s a sturdy, no-nonsense feeling—the repeated “Go, go” and “See, see” sound like a parent nudging things back into order. What makes the mood interesting is the warmth underneath the discipline. The adult doesn’t just punish; they insist on a kiss, a wiped tear, a made-up bond. The whole thing reads like a lesson folded into a hug: playing with a doll isn’t worth so much fuss, and affection should end the argument, right now.
About the Little Girl that Beat Her Sister — Summary
Go, go, my naughty girl, and kiss Your little sister dear; I must not have such things as this, And noisy quarrels here.
What! little children scratch and fight, That ought to be so mild; Oh! Mary, it's a shocking sight To see an angry child.
I can't imagine, for my part, The reason for your folly; She did not do you any hurt By playing with your dolly.
See, see, the little tears that run Fast from her watery eye: Come, my sweet innocent, have done, 'Twill do no good to cry.
Go, Mary, wipe her tears away, And make it up with kisses: And never turn a pretty play To such a pet as this is.