The other won't agree thereto, So here they fall to strife; The babes did quake for fear! He took the children by the hand, And look they did not cry: And two long miles he led them on, While they for food complain: "Stay here," quoth he, "I'll bring you bread, When I come back again." These pretty babes, with hand in hand, Went wandering up and down, Thus wandered these poor innocents, No burial this pretty pair Of any man receives, Till Robin-red-breast piously Did cover them with leaves. And now the heavy wrath of God Upon their uncle fell; Yea, fearful fiends did haunt his house, His conscience felt an hell: God's Judgment on a Wicked Bishop 183 His barns were fired, his goods consumed, His cattle died within the field, And nothing with him stayed. And in a voyage to Portugal And, to conclude, himself was brought He pawned and mortgaged all his land The fellow, that did take in hand You that executors be made, Of children that be fatherless, Your wicked minds requite. Unknown GOD'S JUDGMENT ON A WICKED BISHOP THE summer and autumn had been so wet, Every day the starving poor Crowded around Bishop Hatto's door; At last Bishop Hatto appointed a day To quiet the poor without delay; He bade them to his great barn repair, And they should have food for the winter there. Rejoiced such tidings good to hear, The poor folk flocked from far and near; Then, when he saw it could hold no more, "I' faith, 'tis an excellent bonfire!" quoth he; So then to his palace returnèd he, And he slept that night like an innocent man; In the morning, as he entered the hall, As he looked, there came a man from his farm,- 9 God's Judgment on a Wicked Bishop 185 Another came running presently, And he was pale as pale could be. "I'll go to my tower in the Rhine," replied he; Bishop Hatto fearfully hastened away, He laid him down and closed his eyes, On his pillow, from whence the screaming came. He listened and looked,-it was only the cat; For they have swum over the river so deep, Down on his knees the Bishop fell, The saw of their teeth without he could hear. And in at the windows, and in at the door, And through the walls by thousands they pour; They have whetted their teeth against the stones, For they were sent to do judgment on him! Robert Southey [1774-1843] THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN A CHILD'S STORY I HAMELIN Town's in Brunswick, By famous Hanover city; The river Weser, deep and wide, Washes its wall on the southern side; A pleasanter spot you never spied; But, when begins my ditty, Almost five hundred years ago, To see the townsfolk suffer so From vermin was a pity. II Rats! They fought the dogs and killed the cats, And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheeses out of the vats, And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles, Split open the kegs of salted sprats, Made nests inside men's Sunday hats, And even spoiled the women's chats III At last the people in a body To the Town Hall came flocking: ""Tis clear," cried they, "our Mayor's a noddy; And as for our Corporation, shocking |