Quote#World
Rats!
Quote byRobert Browning · 1812–1889
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Pied Piper of Hamelin, line 10 (1842)..
English (original)
Rats! They fought the dogs and killed the cats, And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheeses out of the vats, And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles, Split open the kegs of salted sprats, Made nests inside men's Sunday hats, And even spoiled the women's chats By drowning their speaking With shrieking and squeaking In fifty different sharps and flats.
— Robert Browning
More from Robert Browning
Be sure that God Ne'er dooms to waste the strength he deigns impart.
Over my head his arm he flung Against the world.
So, Willy, let you and me be wipers Of scores out with all men — especially pipers! And, whether they pipe us from rats or from mice, If we've promised them aught, let us keep our promise!
Kiss me as if you made believe You were not sure, this eve, How my face, your flower, had pursed It's petals up.
The lie was dead And damned, and truth stood up instead.
There's a woman like a dewdrop, she's so purer than the purest.