The swollen torrent, swift and muddied,

All the surrounding country flooded,

Put a prompt stop to prosperous tillage,

Drowned fifty folk, and swamped a village.

Moral.

Some men's sole notion of improvement

Is simply to arrest all movement.

This craving crass the spirit stirs

Of Tsars and of Teetotallers,

Eight-Hour fanatics, and the like,