The Treasure Digger

O, would that with last and shoe I had stay’d, Without wild desires; And, ah! no trust in Satan had laid, That prince of liars!

Each Saturday night, when slept the rest, Away I stroll’d To the forest, so murky and drear, in quest Of buried gold.

And then I beheld the hopping fire glow The briar behind; And down to the earth my wishing-rod low Itself declin’d.

I dug then, and gripped the chest’s ring amain, And held it stout; But the copper deceitful burst in twain, And the fiends laughed out.

Just, just as long was the treasure my own, As I trembled with fright; But soon as I held it secure, down, down It sank from sight.

Ye devilish pack, what grin ye at? I fell not your prey; I’ll trust no more in old women’s chat, And in cross-shaped way.

I go by my last and shoe to stay, Without wild desires; And ne’er more in Satan I trust will lay, That prince of liars!