Page:Backblock Ballads and Later Verses (C.J. Dennis, 1918).djvu/53

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GRIMBLES AND THE GNAD
45



               "Then he praised the Warty Swunks,
                   Beady-eyed and vicious,
               Which they et the Guffer Birds,
                   Native of Mauritius,
               Which they et the Wuzzle Swooks—
                   Plague of cultivators—
               Which they et the Grimble Grubs,
                   Which they et his taters.

"Now them Swunks were simply wonders, an' old Martin stopped his growls,
Till they et up all the Guffer Birds, an' started on his fowls.
An' the riots in his hen-house that occurred near every night
They robbed him of his beauty sleep an' turned his whiskers white.

"He was wearin' to a shadder, till by accident he seen
A picture of the Boggle Dog in some old magazine.
And the same he was notorious for huntin' Swunks an' such,
And for livin' on their livers which he fancied very much.

"Now the Boggle Dog of Boffin's Land is most extremely rare,
But Martin mortgaged house an' home just to import a pair.
They was most feerocious animals; but Martin he was mad;
An' he sooled 'em on the Warty Swunks with all the breath he had.