He had kept the old hovel in charming repair;
[p16]
The walls neatly mended, the parlour swept clean,
And never a cobweb nor grain to be seen;
But that now this once pleasant and rural retreat,
By his tenant, the owl, was no longer kept neat;
That the little round chamber, and long slanting hall,
For the want of attention, were likely to fall;
Such a mess and confusion he could but deplore,
And he thought, at the least, she might plaster the floor,
Just turn out of doors all the shells of her eggs,