Battling with vermin foes, a teeming brood,
Prolific and not easily withstood:
An evil pest, ubiquitous and rife,
In the fecundity of insect life.
In agony of body and of brain,
Each breath a stifling gasp and twinge of pain,
Cursing my fortune, though each fevered curse
Redounding, made my agony the worse;
For fits of anger seldom mollify,
When vacancy reiterates the cry,