Strange People

Strange People written by William Henry Davies

New Poems (1907)

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There was a man I knew,
Cruel to child and wife;
To see a pig despatched,
And blood upon a knife,
Made him so sick he retched.

There was a man I knew,
Soft-spoken, he was loved;
He took a club and struck
A fowl which lived and moved
When he that fowl did pluck.

There was a man I knew,
Refused no stranger ale;
But Mrs. Jone's head
Wagged with this woful tale -
'His children moan for bread.

'A farthing's worth of milk
His little girl goes for,
But quarts of ale he drinks he,
And rum and whiskey raw,' -
Said Mrs. Jones to me.

Now these three men I knew,
Were Tom, and Dick, and Dave;
Dick freely paid for drink,
Till Mrs. Jones she gave
That hint, which made me think.

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