And hacked and hewed, as your huckster can,
With his cruel steel, at the severed reed,
Till there was small sign of life indeed
To prove it fresh from the River.
He cut it short, did the Middleman,
(How big he swelled by the River!)
Then drew out the pith, on a patent plan
Devised by his like of the cruel Trade Ring,
And sucked through the poor dry empty thing
Deep draughts from the Golden River.