Said Cotton to Corn, t'other day, <br />As they met and exchang'd salute- <br />(Squire Corn in his carriage so gay, <br />Poor Cotton, half famish'd on foot) : <br /> <br /> <br />'Great Squire, if it isn't uncivil <br />To hint at starvation before you, <br />Look down on a poor hungry devil, <br />And give him some bread, I implore you! ' <br /> <br /> <br />Quoth Corn, then, in answer to Cotton, <br />Perceiving he meant to make free - <br />'Low fellow, you've surely forgotten <br />The distance between you and me! <br /> <br /> <br />To expect that we, Peers of high birth, <br />Should waste our illustrious acres, <br />For no other purpose on earth <br />Than to fatten curst calico-makers! - <br /> <br /> <br />That Biships to hobbins should bend - <br />Should stoop from their Bench's sublimity, <br />Great dealers in lawn, to befriend <br />Such contemptible dealers in dimity! <br /> <br /> <br />'No - vile Manufacture! ne'er harbour <br />A hope to be fed at our boards; - <br />Base offspring of Arkwright the barber, <br />What claim canst thou have upon Lords? <br /> <br />'No - thanks to the taxes and debt, <br />And the triumph of paper o'er guineas, <br />Our race of Lord Jemmys, as yet, <br />May defy your whole rabble of Jennys! ' <br /> <br /> <br />So saying - whip, crack and away <br />Went Corn in his chaise through the throng, <br />So headlong, I heard them all say, <br />'Squire Corn would be down, before long.'<br /><br />Thomas Moore<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/cotton-and-corn/
