'Tis the voice of the Lobster ; I heard him declare,
'You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair.'
As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose
Trims his gelt and his buttons, and turns out his toes.
When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark,
And will talk in contemptuos tones of the Shark.
But, when the tide rises and sharks are around,
His voice has a timid and tremulous sound.
I passed by his garden, and marked, with one eye,
How the Owl and the Panther were sharing a pie.
The Panther took pie crust, and gravy, and meat,
While the Owl had the dish as its share of the treat.
When the pie was all finishe, the Owl, as a boon,
Was kindly permitted to pocket the spoon :
While the Panther recieved knife and fork with a growl,
And concluded the banquet -
~~forward~~