Classic Poem

A man was sitting underneath a tree
Outside the village; and he asked me what
Name was upon this place; and said that he
Was never here before—He told a lot

Of stories to me too. His nose was flat!
I asked him how it happened, and he said
—The first mate of the Holy Ghost did that
With a marlin-spike one day; but he was dead;

And jolly good job too; and he'd have gone
A long way to have killed him—Oh, he had
A gold ring in one ear; the other one
—“Was bit off by a crocodile, bedad!”—

That's what he said. He taught me how to chew!
He was a real nice man! He liked me too!