English poem
EDWIN'S PILLS, &c, SONG
by John O'Keeffe (1747–1833)
A Voyage over seas had not enter'd my head, Had I known but on which side to butter my bread. Heigho! sure I—for hunger must die! I've sail'd like a booby; come here in a squall, Where, alas! there's no bread to be butter'd at all! Oho! I'm a terrible booby! Oh, what a sad booby am I!
In London what gay chop-house signs in the street! But the only sign here is of nothing to eat, Heigho! that I—for hunger shou'd die! My mutton's all lost, I'm a poor starving elf, And for all the world like a lost mutton myself; Oho! I shall die a lost mutton! Oh, what a lost mutton am I! For a neat slice of beef, I cou'd roar like a bull, And my stomach's so empty, my heart is quite full. Heigho! that I—for hunger should die! But, grave without meat, I must here meet my grave, For my bacon, I fancy, I. never shall save; Oho! I shall ne'er save my bacon! I can't save my bacon, not I!