And Mrs. Opossum, good dame, holds her breath,

Safely pockets her young, and as usual, feigns death;

Till the storm has blown over they lie in their sack,

Whilst the seal scrambles home with her cub pic-a-back.

Sir Hans Armadillo, coil’d up in a ball,

From the edge of a precipice lets himself fall;

Being arm’d “cap-à-pie,” he rolls safely away,

And lives, without doubt, in his hole to this day.

The rein-deer most kindly was offer’d to share

In her cold wintry drive by the white polar bear;