The English Dance of Death from the designs of Thomas Rowlandson, with metrical illustrations, by the author of "Doctor Syntax" [i.e. William Combe] |
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 | The English Dance of Death |  |
Jack had a jolly Butcher been,
No Market had a better seen:
Oft had he led the jovial train,
In Leadenhall or Honey Lane;
But could a courteous visage put on,
Beneath suspended legs of mutton:
With frock of blue, and shining face,
Would welcome all with sprightly grace;
And had a certain leering eye
To tempt the passenger to buy.
He'd glance the knife across the steel,
And boast his beef, or vaunt his veal;
Talk of lamb's kidnies for a stew,
And sweet-breads, what a nice ragout:
While shoulders, breasts, and loins and hearts
Flow'd from his tongue, by fits and starts.
Nor was this all:—he had the skill
To manage weights and scales at will;
And, by a certain slight of hand,
Could a short ounce or two command.
Besides, his tongue was so bewitching
To all the maids who rul'd the kitchen,
That no complaints were ever heard,
Where Marrow's daily Tray appear'd.
No Market had a better seen:
99
In Leadenhall or Honey Lane;
But could a courteous visage put on,
Beneath suspended legs of mutton:
With frock of blue, and shining face,
Would welcome all with sprightly grace;
And had a certain leering eye
To tempt the passenger to buy.
He'd glance the knife across the steel,
And boast his beef, or vaunt his veal;
Talk of lamb's kidnies for a stew,
And sweet-breads, what a nice ragout:
While shoulders, breasts, and loins and hearts
Flow'd from his tongue, by fits and starts.
Nor was this all:—he had the skill
To manage weights and scales at will;
And, by a certain slight of hand,
Could a short ounce or two command.
Besides, his tongue was so bewitching
To all the maids who rul'd the kitchen,
That no complaints were ever heard,
Where Marrow's daily Tray appear'd.
| The English Dance of Death | |