Robinson Crusoe’s Story

by Charles Edward Carryl

⁠The night was thick and hazy
⁠When the “Piccadilly Daisy”
Carried down the crew and captain in the sea;
⁠And I think the water drowned ’em;
⁠For they never, never found ’em,
And I know they didn’t come ashore with me.

⁠Oh! ’twas very sad and lonely
⁠When I found myself the only
Population on this cultivated shore;
⁠But I’ve made a little tavern
⁠In a rocky little cavern,
And I sit and watch for people at the door.

⁠I spent no time in looking
⁠For a girl to do my cooking,
As I’m quite a clever hand at making stews;
⁠But I had that fellow Friday,
⁠Just to keep the tavern tidy,
And to put a Sunday polish on my shoes.

⁠I have a little garden
⁠That I’m cultivating lard in,
As the things I eat are rather tough and dry;
⁠For I live on toasted lizards,
⁠Prickly pears, and parrot gizzards,
And I’m really very fond of beetle-pie.

⁠The clothes I had were furry,
⁠And it made me fret and worry
When I found the moths were eating off the hair;
⁠And I had to scrape and sand ’em,
⁠And I boiled ’em and I tanned ’em,
Till I got the fine morocco suit I wear.

⁠I sometimes seek diversion
⁠In a family excursion
With the few domestic animals you see;
⁠And we take along a carrot
⁠As refreshment for the parrot,
And a little can of jungleberry tea.

“If the roads are wet and muddy we remain at home and study.

⁠Then we gather as we travel,
⁠Bits of moss and dirty gravel,
And we chip off little specimens of stone;
⁠And we carry home as prizes
⁠Funny bugs, of handy sizes,
Just to give the day a scientific tone.

⁠If the roads are wet and muddy
⁠We remain at home and study,—
For the Goat is very clever at a sum,
⁠And the Dog, instead of fighting,
⁠Studies ornamental writing,
While the Cat is taking lessons on the drum.

⁠We retire at eleven,
⁠And we rise again at seven;
And I wish to call attention, as I close,
⁠To the fact that all the scholars
⁠Are correct about their collars,
And particular in turning out their toes.