             return preservingHTMLImporter;
         }
     }   
-    
+ 
+    /**
+     *  @private
+     */
+    public function clearContainerChildren():void
+    {
+        // Make sure there is nothing leftover on the display list from
+        // a previous composition of text.
+        if (textContainerManager)
+        {
+            // recycle lines
+            textContainerManager.clearContainerChildren(true);
+            textContainerManager.clearComposedLines();
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      *  @private
      */

                   if (!_htmlHelper.hostFormat)
                        createHostFormat();
                    
                    _htmlHelper.composeHTMLText(compositionWidth, compositionHeight);                           
                }
                else
                {
                    if (!elementFormat)
                        createElementFormat();  
                    
                    composeText(compositionWidth, compositionHeight);                           
                }
                
                var origX:Number = x;

            _text = value.replace(ALL_LINEFEEDS, "\r");
            
            // _htmlText is now invalid and will get regenerated on demand
            // _htmlHelper will be set to null in validateNow() after we use it
            // to clear the container of any TLF generated textLines.
            
            clearFlag(FLAG_HTML_TEXT_SET);
            
