While he is trying to hide the tatter,
  Mark how his looks will fall! 
Nobody needs to ask the matter
  With poor, old, hungry Paul.

All that he has in his dingy sack
  Is morsels of bread and meat,—­
The leavings, to burden his aged back,
  Which others refused to eat.

So now I am sure, you will all be willing
  To part with a sum so small
As each will spare, who makes up a shilling
  To comfort him—­Poor old Paul!

=The Sea-Eagle’s Fall=

An Eagle, on his towering wing,
  Hung o’er the summer sea;
And ne’er did airy, feathered king
  Look prouder there than he.

He spied the finny tribes below,
  Amid the limpid brine;
And felt it now was time to know
  Whereon he was to dine.

He saw a noble, shining fish
  So near the surface swim,
He felt at once a hungry wish
  To make a feast of him.

Then straight he took his downward course;
  A sudden plunge he gave;
And, pouncing, seized, with murderous force,
  His tempter in the wave.

He struck his talons firm and deep,
  Within the slippery prize,
In hope his ruffian grasp to keep,
  And high and dry to rise.

But ah! it was a fatal stoop,
  As ever monarch made;
And, for that rash—­that cruel swoop,
  He soon most dearly paid!

The fish had too much gravity
  To yield to this attack. 
His feet the eagle could not free
  From off the scaly back.

He’d seized on one too strong and great;
  His mastery now was gone! 
And on, by that preponderant weight,
  And downward, he was drawn.

Nor found he here the element
  Where he could move with grace;
And flap, and dash, his pinions went,
  In ocean’s wrinkled face.

They could not bring his talons out,
  His forfeit life to save;
And planted thus, he writhed about
  Upon his gaping grave.

He raised his head, and gave a shriek,
  To bid adieu to light: 
The water bubbled in his beak—­
  He sank from human sight!

The children of the sea came round,
  The foreigner to view. 
To see an airy monarch drowned,
  To them was something new

Some gave a quick, astonished look,
  And darted swift away;
While some his parting plumage shook,
  And nibbled him for prey.

O! who that saw that bird at noon
  So high and proudly soar,
Could think how awkwardly—­how soon,
  He’d fall to rise no more?

Though glory, majesty, and pride
  Were his an hour ago,
Deprived of all, that eagle died,
  For stooping once too low!

Now, have you ever known or heard
  Of biped, from his sphere
Descending, like that silly bird
  To buy a fish so dear?

=The Two Thieves=

A lady, they called her Miss Mouse,
  In a slate-colored dress, like a Quaker,
Once lived in a snug little house,
  Of which she herself was the maker.