 | Reuben and Other Poems |  |
Wherever the miser may bury his store,—
In the garden three feet deep or more,
In a hole of the wall or under the floor,
Or behind the cross-beam over the door,
Hidden, however securely or dim,
It's known to the weasel as well as to him.—
Sometimes it lives in the miser's house,
In the crannied walls, like rat or mouse;
But rats and mice leave their cozy homes
When the bold little cunning weasel comes.
Or it worms its way through the mouldy thatch,
And up in the rafters keeps secret watch
O'er the movements and doings of folks below,
To see where their money is hidden, you know.—
When the careful housewife counts her gear,
Half dead for fear of anyone near,
Stretch'd on a joist it leans its ear,
For the clink, clink, clink, and chink, chink, chink,
Is the sweetest music a weasel can hear.
Its little black diamonds gleam at the sight,
And its pretty white waistcoat heaves with delight:
And aye, as the housewife clink, clink, clinks,
That silver and gold shall be mine, it thinks.
In the garden three feet deep or more,
In a hole of the wall or under the floor,
Or behind the cross-beam over the door,
Hidden, however securely or dim,
It's known to the weasel as well as to him.—
Sometimes it lives in the miser's house,
In the crannied walls, like rat or mouse;
But rats and mice leave their cozy homes
When the bold little cunning weasel comes.
Or it worms its way through the mouldy thatch,
And up in the rafters keeps secret watch
179
To see where their money is hidden, you know.—
When the careful housewife counts her gear,
Half dead for fear of anyone near,
Stretch'd on a joist it leans its ear,
For the clink, clink, clink, and chink, chink, chink,
Is the sweetest music a weasel can hear.
Its little black diamonds gleam at the sight,
And its pretty white waistcoat heaves with delight:
And aye, as the housewife clink, clink, clinks,
That silver and gold shall be mine, it thinks.
| Reuben and Other Poems | |