So loud o’er every egg, ’twould seem
The house must be on fire.
A turkey-cock, who ruled the walk,
A wiser bird, and older,
Could bear’t no more, so off did stalk
Right to the hen, and told her:
“Madam, that scream, I apprehend,
Does not affect the matter;
It surely helps the eggs no whit;
So, lay your egg—and done with it!