University of Virginia Library

To an Egg-Merchant.

What the deuce is your use? You nothing produce,
You never lay eggs. O, you're a transmitter.
If A has an egg intended for me,
He hands it to B, B to C, C to D,
D to E, E to me—who pay, after A,
B, C, D, and E, for stopping the way;
For surely 'twere fitter A's egg and my penny
Changed hands without paying a toll to so many,
Which terribly docks Farmer A of his gain,
While of eggs far from fresh I often complain.