Old Ragan

The Philosophical Beggar written by William Henry Davies

From "Farewell to Poesy", 1910

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Who lives in this black wooden hut?
Old Ragan lives there, all alone;
He cursed a lovely lady once,
Who let her shadow cross his own.

His tongue is a perpetual spring
Of oaths that never cease to drop;
Wouldst hear him swear? Speak kindly thus,
"Good morning, Ragan" - and then stop.

Sometimes a woman thoughtlessly
Has greeted Ragan in this way;
And she will not forget his look
And language till her dying day.

He throws his fowls their own eggshells,
Feeds them on thrice-boiled leaves of tea;
And dead flies on his window-sill,
He killed when they danced merrily.

A wicked, mean, suspicious man,
He growls to hear an infant’s noise;
He hides behind the walls and trees,
To frighten little girls and boys.

What made old Ragan come to this?
Young men did jeer at him and shout;
So women, children and houseflies
Must bear the old man’s vengeance out.

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.