TOM, Tom, the piper's son, Stole a pig and away he run; The pig was eat, And Tom was beat, And Tom went howling down the street. Yes, yes, Tom stole the pig, and here's the man from whom he stole it. This man makes pigs of pastry and fills their middles with currants, and places two little currants in their heads for eyes. When he walks in the street with his basket of pigs for sale, he cries: 'Who buys? Who buys?' and he sings: A long-tailed pig, Or a short-tailed pig, Or a pig without any tail; A sow pig, Or a boar pig, Or a pig with a curly tail. Take hold of the tail And eat off his head, And then you'll be sure The pig-hog is dead. While the man was selling a curly-tailed pig to a little Miss, Tom ran away with a long-tailed pig: but he would not have stolen it if he had known what sauce he would have to it. For he was beat in the street, and made to beg pardon on his marrowbones, and promise never to steal anything again. Thus after the sweetmeat of stealing he got the sour sauce of correction. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WITCH by MARY ELIZABETH COLERIDGE THE EXAMPLE by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES TO LUCASTA, [ON] GOING BEYOND THE SEAS by RICHARD LOVELACE THE SOLITARY WOODSMAN by CHARLES GEORGE DOUGLAS ROBERTS THE WINDOW; OR, THE SONG OF THE WRENS: MARRIAGE MORNING by ALFRED TENNYSON |