Toss half-pence to the cripples in the lane;
There on a wintry morning, clad in rags,
The Kid found Tompkins shivering on the flags—
A ragged beard disguised his sallow cheeks,
Which plainly showed he hadn’t shaved for weeks;
And o’er the pavement—green, and blue, and red—
In coloured chalk, his paltry pictures spread;
Maxims of charity were there in view,
And next a bunch of grapes the artist drew,
Then half a mackerel, (or perhaps a plaice),