The Old Woman
(A Morality Play)
Characters:
The Woman
The House
The Doctor
The Deacon
The Landlady
Doctor:
There is an old woman
Who ought to die—
Deacon:
And nobody knows
But what she's dead—
Doctor:
The air will be cleaner
When she's gone—
Deacon:
But we dare not bury her
Till she's dead—
Landlady:
Come, young doctor
From the first floor front,
Come, dusty deacon,
From the fourth floor back,
You take her heels
And I'll take her head—
Doctor and Deacon:
We'll carry her
And bury her
If she's dead!
House:
They roll her up
In her old, red quilt,
They carry her down
At a horizontal tilt,
She doesn't say "Yes"
And she doesn't say "No,"
She doesn't say, "Gentlemen,
Where do we go?"
Doctor:
Out in the lot
Where ash-cans die,
There, old woman,
There shall you lie!