Page:Complete Works of Lewis Carroll.djvu/811

LAYS OF SORROW

No. 1

The day was wet, the rain fell souse
  Like jars of strawberry jam,^[1] a
Sound was heard in the old henhouse,
  A beating of a hammer.
Of stalwart form, and visage warm,
  Two youths were seen within it,
Splitting up an old tree into perches for their poultry
  At a hundred strokes^[2] a minute.

The work is done, the hen has taken
Possession of her nest and eggs.
Without a thought of eggs and bacon,^[3]
(Or I am very much mistaken:)
   She turns over each shell,
   To be sure that all's well,
   Looks into the straw
    To see there's no flaw,
    Goes once round the house,^[4]
    Half afraid of a mouse,
    Then sinks calmly to rest
    On the top of her nest,
   First doubling up each of her legs.
Time rolled away, and so did every shell,
  "Small by degrees and beautifully less,"

1. I.e. the jam without the jars. Observe the beauty of this rhyme.
2. At the rate of a stroke and two-thirds in a second.
3. Unless the hen was a poacher, which is unlikely.
4. The henhouse.