But he let him write no further;

For Death, who strikes whenever he likes,

Is jealous of all self-murther!

Death saw a patient that pull'd out his purse,

And a doctor that took the sum;

But he let them be—for he knew that the "fee"

Was a prelude to "faw" and "fum."

He met a dustman ringing a bell,

And he gave him a mortal thrust;

For himself, by law, since Adam's flaw,