A beldam kept two spinning maids, Who plied so handily their trades, Those spinning sisters down below Were bunglers when compared with these. No care did this old woman know...
ONCE on a time, as hist'ry's page relates, A lord, possessed of many large estates, Was angry with a poor and humble clod, Who tilled his grounds and feared his very nod....
A shepherd, with a single dog, Was ask'd the reason why He kept a dog, whose least supply Amounted to a loaf of bread For every day. The people said He'd better give the animal...
'What! shall I lose them one by one, This stupid coward throng? And never shall the wolf have done? They were at least a thousand strong, But still they've let poor Robin[2] fall a prey!...
Beside a placid, crystal flood, A stag admired the branching wood That high upon his forehead stood, But gave his Maker little thanks For what he call'd his spindle shanks....
Two parrots lived, a sire and son, On roastings from a royal fire. Two demigods, a son and sire, These parrots pension'd for their fun. Time tied the knot of love sincere:...
Thou lust of gain, - foul fiend, whose evil eyes Regard as nought the blessings of the skies, Must I for ever battle thee in vain? How long demandest thou to gain...
This wolf another brings to mind, Who found dame Fortune more unkind, In that the greedy, pirate sinner, Was balk'd of life as well as dinner. As saith our tale, a villager...