Remove my head, and scarcely less
Will be the mischief that I make;
Beware of both, for I confess
That either will insure an ache.
[57]
Cut off my head and singular I am;
Cut off my tail and plural I appear;
Cut off both head and tail, and strange to say,
Although my middle’s left, there’s nothing there!
What is my head cut off? A sounding sea.
What is my tail cut off? A roaring river,
Beneath whose placid waves I peaceful play,
The parent of soft sounds, though mute forever.
[58]
It is a compound word, calling to mind social pleasures. The subject of a pretty Scotch song, and the place in the family most missed by the absent. The first four letters form the name of a cruel master. Take my second, third, and fourth, and it is a wicked passion. The last four letters form a part of the animal body. Put the fifth letter after the last three, and you will see a term used among the ancient Romans in regard to time. Transpose the first four, and it means prevailing. Transpose the last three, and, as a noun, it is anxiously watched by the gambler; and, as a verb, puts an end to earthly joys and sorrows. Remove the third letter, and the first, second, and fourth is an exclamation.
[59]
I am something very beautiful, which you can look at, but never touch: spell me backward, and I do a great deal of mischief.
[60]
Entire I am a pronoun in the second person. Take away my first letter, and I am a pronoun still, but in the first person; put on my first, and take away my last letter, and I am again a pronoun in the second person.