Classic Poem

An oaken, broken elbow-chair;
A caudle-cup, without an ear;
A battered, shattered ash bedstead;
A box of deal, without a lid;
A pair of tongs, but out of joint;
A back-sword poker, without point;
A pot that's cracked across, around,
With an old knotted garter bound;
An iron lock, without a key;
A wig, with hanging quite grown grey;
A curtain, worn to half a stripe;
A pair of bellows, without pipe;
A dish, which might good meat afford once;
An Ovid, and an old Concordance;
A bottle bottom, wooden platter,
One is for meal, and one for water;
There likewise is a copper skillet,
Which runs as fast out as you fill it;
A candlestick, snuff dish, and save-all,
And thus his household goods you have all.

These, to your Lordship, as a friend,
Till you have built, I freely lend;
They'll serve your Lordship for a shift;
Why not, as well as Doctor Swift?