John Mouldy

I spied John Mouldy in his celler, Deep down twenty steps of stone; In the dusk he sat a-smiling Smiling there all 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 whisp'ring 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 celler, Deep down twenty steps of stone; In the dusk he sat a-smiling Smiling there all alone.