The Children's Corner. THE NONSENSICAL BALLAD OF EATEM.

Otago Witness, Issue 1323, 7 April 1877, Page 19

The Children's Corner. THE NONSENSICAL BALLAD OF EATEM.

PAET I. Oh, Eatem the Great of the Cannibal Isles Was a terrible monarch, you'd better believe ; When he saeezed you could hear him for seventeen miles, And his frown was a death warrant— no hope of reprieve. His mouth was no less than half a yard wide ; ■ He had wool on his head and great bottlegreen eyes ; As black as your hat was the hue of his hide, And the length of his heel was a source of surprise. Now Eatem already had ninety-nine wives, And he married one morning some twentythree more ; None so lovely and fat saw you e'er in your lives, Yet the king was as savage as Blundcrabore. The fact is, this mighty and high potentate Was hungry and hadn't a victim ia prison, And the idea had seized him, I grieve to relate, Of making a meal off those consorts of his'n. PART 11. He took and he stood 'em all up in a row, .. And started and blinked and glared at 'em so That, each sooty belle I think certainly would With fright have turned dreadfully pale if she could. But Eatem he chuckled with such horrid glee, And his antics became most unpleasant to see, While his victims who saw that their last hour had come Each wished herself safe with her mother a t home,

He jumped to the north, he jumped to the south, He scratched his left ear, and. he opened his mouth, He filed his blunt teeth, and he winked his dull eyes, And. then cut his wives into scollops and fries. He cut them all up in spite of their cries, With a sharp butcher knife of unusual size, Then remarking, " Aha! " with no further ado He sat himself down and began to fall to. Ho ate, and he ate, and he ate, and he ate, (O beautiful creatures, 0 horrible fate !) And when he had eaten one hundred and ten He smacked his thick lips — and was hungry again.