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Song For The Jacquerie: The Hound Was Cuffed, The Hound Was Kicked

Sidney Lanier

The hound was cuffed, the hound was kicked,
       O’ the ears was cropped, o’ the tail was nicked,
(All.)    Oo-hoo-o, howled the hound.
       The hound into his kennel crept;
       He rarely wept, he never slept.
       His mouth he always open kept
          Licking his bitter wound,
             The hound,
(All.)       U-lu-lo, HOWLED THE HOUND.

       A star upon his kennel shone
       That showed the hound a meat-bare bone.
(All.)    O hungry was the hound!
       The hound had but a churlish wit.
       He seized the bone, he crunched, he bit.
       “An thou wert Master, I had slit
          Thy throat with a huge wound,”
             Quo’ hound.
(All.)       O, angry was the hound.

       The star in castle-window shone,
       The Master lay abed, alone.
(All.)    Oh ho, why not? quo’ hound.
       He leapt, he seized the throat, he tore
       The Master, head from neck, to floor,
       And rolled the head i’ the kennel door,
          And fled and salved his wound,
             Good hound!
(All.)       U-lu-lo, HOWLED THE HOUND.


Macon, Georgia, 1868.
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Poems | Written c. 1868
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