JOHN MOULDY
Reading edition
I spied John Mouldy in his cellar, Deep down twenty steps of stone; In the dusk he sat a-smiling, Smiling there alone.
He read no book, he snuffed no candle; The rats ran in, the rats ran out; And far and near, the drip of water Went whispering about.
The dusk was still, with dew a-falling, I saw the Dog Star bleak and grim, I saw a slim brown rat of Norway Creep over him.
I spied John Mouldy in his cellar, Deep down twenty steps of stone; In the dusk he sat a-smiling, Smiling there alone.