I A LOUSE crept out of my lady's shift -- Ahumm, Ahumm, Ahee -- Crying "Oi! Oi! We are turned adrift; The lady's bosom is cold and stiffed, And her arm-pit 's cold for me. "The lady's linen 's no longer neat" -- Ahumm, Ahumm, Ahee; -- "Her savour is neither warm nor sweet; It's close for two in a winding-sheet, And lice are too good for worms to eat; So here's no place for me." The louse made off unhappy and wet -- Ahumm, Ahumm, Ahee: -- He's looking for us, the little pet; So haste, for her chin's to tie up yet, And let us be gone with what we can get -- Her ring for thee, her gown for Bet, Her pocket turned out for me. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ROBERT BRUCE'S ADDRESS TO HIS ARMY BEFORE BANNOCKBURN by ROBERT BURNS THE LAY OF THE LOVELORN; PARODY OF TENNYSON'S 'LOCKSLEY HALL' by THEODORE MARTIN THE CRADLE SONG OF THE POOR by ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER CONSIDER by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI BANTAMS IN PINE-WOODS by WALLACE STEVENS JOHN CHARLES FREMONT by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER |