54624: The Gallows

<p dir="ltr"> There was a weasel lived in the sun<br> With all his family,<br> Till a keeper shot him with his gun<br> And hung him up on a tree,<br> Where he swings in the wind and rain,<br> In the sun and in the snow,<br> Without pleasure, without pain,<br> On the dead oak tree bough.<br> There was a crow who was no sleeper,<br> But a thief and a murderer<br> Till a very late hour; and this keeper<br> Made him one of the things that were,<br> To hang and flap in rain and wind,<br> In the sun and in the snow.<br> There are no more sins to be sinned<br> On the dead oak tree bough.<br> There was a magpie, too,<br> Had a long tongue and a long tail;<br> He could both talk and do---<br> But what did that avail?<br> He, too, flaps in the wind and rain<br> Alongside weasel and crow,<br> Without pleasure, without pain,<br> On the dead oak tree bough.<br> And many other beasts<br> And birds, skin, bone, and feather,<br> Have been taken from their feasts<br> And hung up there together,<br> To swing and have endless leisure<br> In the sun and in the snow,<br> Without pain, without pleasure,<br> On the dead oak tree bough.<br></p>