I do not like the motor-bike to skid.

I do not like a nasty hacking cough,

Nor influenza. And I never did

Enjoy the thought of frizzling on a grid,

The while wee flaming devils dance and sing.

But short of simple Hell without the lid,

I think that jaundice is the damn’dest thing.

Fleas, faintness, famine, stomach-ache, the feel

Of flies upon your face, rats in your bed;

Lice, dusty roads, a blister on your heel,