The Ingoldsby Legends or, Mirth and Marvels. By Thomas Ingoldsby [i.e. R. H. Barham] |
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 | The Ingoldsby Legends |  |
But chacun à son gout—this is talking at random—
We all know “De gustibus non disputandum!”
So canter back, Muse, to the scene of your story
The Cathedral of Blois— Where the Sainted Aloys
Is by this time, you'll find, “left alone in his glory,”
“In the dead of the night,” though with labour opprest,
Some “mortals” disdain “the calm blessings of rest;”
Your cracksman, for instance, thinks night-time the best
To break open a door, or the lid of a chest;
And the gipsy who close round your premises prowls,
To ransack your hen-roost, and steal all your fowls,
Always sneaks out at night with the bats and the owls,
—So do Witches and Warlocks, Ghosts, Goblins, and Ghouls,
To say nothing at all of those troublesome “Swells”
Who come from the playhouses, “flash kens,” and “hells,”
To pull off people's knockers, and ring people's bells.
We all know “De gustibus non disputandum!”
176
The Cathedral of Blois— Where the Sainted Aloys
Is by this time, you'll find, “left alone in his glory,”
“In the dead of the night,” though with labour opprest,
Some “mortals” disdain “the calm blessings of rest;”
Your cracksman, for instance, thinks night-time the best
To break open a door, or the lid of a chest;
And the gipsy who close round your premises prowls,
To ransack your hen-roost, and steal all your fowls,
Always sneaks out at night with the bats and the owls,
—So do Witches and Warlocks, Ghosts, Goblins, and Ghouls,
To say nothing at all of those troublesome “Swells”
Who come from the playhouses, “flash kens,” and “hells,”
To pull off people's knockers, and ring people's bells.
| The Ingoldsby Legends | |