Charlotte Mason Rationale & Habit of Attention:
Recitation is not mere mechanical parroting; it is the child's possession of a worthy thought dressed in beautiful language. This stanza (by M. A. Stodart) builds the moral habit of single-minded focus: whether working or playing, one must give wholehearted attention.

Section A & B • Exact Transcription & Punctuation Nuances:

• Line 1: Work while you work, play while you play, — (Initial capital, comma after work, comma and em-dash after second play).
• Line 2: That is the way to be cheerful and gay! (Initial capital, terminal exclamation point expressing joyful energy).
• Line 3: All that you do, do with your might; (Comma setting off the imperative repetition do, terminal semicolon linking related clauses).
• Line 4: Things done by halves are never done right. (Initial capital, terminal period completing the declarative maxim).

Section C • Meaning & Rhyme Key:

• 1. Rhyming Pairs: play rhymes with gay; might rhymes with right (AABB rhyme scheme).
• 2. "With your might": Doing something with all one's strength, full energy, and earnest focus. (Not lazily or daydreaming).
• 3. "Done by halves": Work left incomplete, done carelessly, or done with divided attention. Such work is never done right.

Historical Vocabulary Note for Teachers:
Explain to children that in classical 19th-century English, the word "gay" meant "full of joy, bright, cheerful, and merry." Model this noble, joyful sense when reciting.