The Queen was in her chamber; her sins were on her head; She looked the spirits up and down and statelily she said: 'Backwards and forwards and sideways though I've been, Yet I am Harry's daughter and I am England's Queen!' And she faced the looking-glass (and whatever else there was), And she saw her day was over and she saw her beauty pass In the cruel looking-glass that can always hurt a lass More hard than any ghost there is or any man there was!
_I tell this tale which is strictly true, Just by way of convincing you How very little since things were made Things have altered in the building trade._
A year ago, come the middle o' March, We was building flats near the Marble Arch, When a thin young man with coal-black hair Came up to watch us working there.
Now there wasn't a trick in brick or stone That this young man hadn't seen or known; Nor there wasn't a tool from trowel to maul But this young man could use 'em all!
Then up and spoke the plumbyers bold, Which was laying the pipes for the hot and cold: 'Since you with us have made so free, Will you kindly say what your name might be?'
The young man kindly answered them: 'It might be Lot or Methusalem, Or it might be Moses (a man I hate), Whereas it is Pharaoh surnamed the Great.
'Your glazing is new and your plumbing's strange, But otherwise I perceive no change, And in less than a month if you do as I bid I'd learn you to build me a Pyramid.'
_I tell this tale which is stricter true, Just by way of convincing you How very little since things was made Things have altered in the shipwright's trade._
In Blackwall Basin yesterday A China barque re-fitting lay, When a fat old man with snow-white hair Came up to watch us working there.
Now there wasn't a knot which the riggers knew But the old man made it--and better too; Nor there wasn't a sheet, or a lift, or a brace, But the old man knew its lead and place.
Then up and spake the caulkyers bold, Which was packing the pump in the after-hold: 'Since you with us have made so free, Will you kindly tell what your name might be?'
The old man kindly answered them: 'It might be Japhet, it might be Shem, Or it might be Ham (though his skin was dark), Whereas it is Noah, commanding the Ark.