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The book of the East

and other poems

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172

A BEGGAR SONG.

I am a ragged beggar
My heart is bold and light;
I live upon the highway,
And sleep in barns at night.
I eat behind the hedges
My scraps of bread and meat,
And drink, when very thirsty,
The water at my feet.
But, money in my pocket,
And none to tell the tale,
I hie me to the alehouse,
And drink my fill of ale!
I frown upon the tapsters,
I laugh and shout and sing;
For, give a beggar money,
He 's mighty as a king!