In time hath come to be a tythingman;
And with great credit past that office thorough,
His geese increasing he hath been Headborough,
Then, as his flock in number are accounted,
Unto a Constable he hath been mounted;
And so from place to place he doth aspire,
And as his geese grow more hee’s raisèd higher.
’Tis onely geese then that doe men prefer,
And ’tis a rule no geese no officer.