To Oliver, the Workhouse Boy.
Poor Lad! condemn'd to fate's hard stripes,
To herd with Fagin's plundering pack;
And learn the art of filching wipes,
From Charley Bates, and Dawkins Jack.
To hear 'The Dodger' patter slang,
With knowing wink, and accent glib,
Or learn from 'Sikes's' ruffian gang,
In slap up style to crack a crib.
Hail, Fagin! Patriarch of the whole!