“The very poultry in the coop Began to pine away and droop-- The cock was first to go; And glad we were on all our parts, He used to damp our very hearts With such a ropy crow. “But worst it was, we did allow, To look upon the Captain’s Cow, That daily seemed to shrink: Deprived of water hard or soft, For, though we tried her oft and oft, The brine she wouldn’t drink: “But only turn’d her bloodshot eye, And muzzle up towards the sky, And gave a moan of pain, A sort of hollow moan and sad, As if some brutish thought she had To pray to heav’n for rain; “And sometimes with a steadfast stare Kept looking at the empty air, As if she saw beyond, Some meadow in her native land, Where formerly she used to stand A-cooling in the pond. “If I had only had a drink Of water then, I almost think She would have had the half: But as for John the Carpenter, He couldn’t more have pitied her If he had been her calf. “So soft of heart he was and kind To any creature lame, or blind, Unfortunate, or dumb: Whereby he made a sort of vow, In sympathising with the Cow, To give her half his rum;-- “An oath from which he never swerved, For surely as the rum was serv’d He shared the cheering dram; And kindly gave one half at least, Or more, to the complaining beast, Who took it like a lamb. “At last with overclouding skies A breeze again began to rise, That stiffen’d to a gale: Steady, steady, and strong it blew; And were not we a joyous crew, As on the Jolly Planter flew Beneath a press of sail! “Swiftly the Jolly Planter flew, And were not we a joyous crew, At last to sight the land! A glee there was on every brow, That like a Christian soul the Cow Appear’d to understand. “And was not she a mad-like thing To land again and taste the spring, Instead of fiery glass: About the verdant meads to scour, And snuff the honey’d cowslip flower, And crop the juicy grass! “Whereby she grew as plump and hale As any beast that wears a tail, Her skin as sleek as silk; And through all parts of England now Is grown a very famous Cow, By giving Rum-and-Milk!” THE DOVES AND THE CROWS. Come all ye sable little girls and boys, Ye coal-black Brothers--Sooty Sisters, come! With kitty-katties make a joyful noise; With snaky-snekies, and the Eboe drum! From this day forth your freedom is your own: _Play_, Sambo, play,--and, Obadiah, groan!