← Table of contents
The Bab Ballads, with Which Are Included Songs of a Savoyard

Part 1 — THE POLICEMAN'S LOT

Reading edition

Illustration from The Bab Ballads, with Which Are Included Songs of a Savoyard

When a felon's not engaged in his employment, Or maturing his felonious little plans, His capacity for innocent enjoyment Is just as great as any honest man's. Our feelings we with difficulty smother When constabulary duty's to be done: Ah, take one consideration with another, A policeman's lot is not a happy one! When the enterprising burglar isn't burgling, When the cut-throat isn't occupied in crime, He loves to hear the little brook a-gurgling, And listen to the merry village chime. When the coster's finished jumping on his mother, He loves to lie a-basking in the sun: Ah, take one consideration with another, The policeman's lot is not a happy one!

Explore with AITake your curiosity a little further.

Reading settings