Non-corporal Punishment

W.H. Auden’s mother had interesting ideas about discipline. He remembers:

My elder brother repeated at a tea-party, where a certain lady was present, a remark of my aunt’s to the effect that the lady smelt.

For the next few days, to all his toys, to his sponge and toothbrush and all his belongings, he found a paper pinned on which were written the words: ‘Never Repeat’.

From “Auden” by Richard Davenport-Hines, p.11

3 thoughts on “Non-corporal Punishment

  • 16 December, 2006 at 2:54 pm
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    Sounds mild to me. What he simply couldn’t use any of his toys the next day? Including the sponge, and the toothbrush…:).

    I remember reading an interview with Madonna and she said that if her daughter left certain clothes on the floor, they would lock those clothes in the closet and not allow the girl use them for a week. I want to be punished that way :).

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  • 17 December, 2006 at 5:16 am
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    I wonder if young Lourdes would even notice if she never got the clothes back again…

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  • 17 December, 2006 at 5:32 am
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    Can you imagine? A husband takes away his wife’s clothes and has her go around naked in the house for a week. Oh, my dirty mind! Very impractical, of course.

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