Page:Ballads of a Bohemian.djvu/94

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Up in my garret bleak and bare I tilted back on my broken chair, And my three old pals were with me there, Hunger and Thirst and Cold; Hunger scowled at his scurvy mate: Cold cowered down by the hollow grate, And I hated them with a deadly hate As old as life is old.

So up in my garret that’s near the sky I smiled a smile that was thin and dry: “You’ve roomed with me twenty year,” said I, “Hunger and Thirst and Cold; But now, begone down the broken stair! I’ve suffered enough of your spite… so there!” Bang! Bang! I slapped on the table bare A glittering heap of gold.

“Red flames will jewel my wine to-night; I'll loose my belt that you’ve lugged so tight; Ha! Ha! Dame Fortune is smiling bright; The stuff of my brain I’ve sold; Canaille of the gutter, up! Away! You’ve battened on me for a bitter-long day;