„Time to put off the world and go somewhere
And find my health again in the sea air,”
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
„And make my soul before my pate is bare.”
„And get a comfortable wife and house
To rid me of the devil in my shoes,”
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
„And the worse devil that is between my thighs.”
„And though I’d marry with a comely lass,
She need not be too comely — let it pass,”
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
„But there’s a devil in a looking-glass.”
„Nor should she be too rich, because the rich
Are driven by wealth as beggars by the itch,”
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
„And cannot have a humorous happy speech.”
„And there I’ll grow respected at my ease,
And hear amid the garden’s nightly peace,”
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
„The wind-blown clamour of the barnacle-geese.”