This creature, though extremely thin, <br />In shape is almost square; <br />Has many heads, on which ne'er grew <br />One single lock of hair. <br />Yet several of their tribe there are, <br />Whose case you must bewail, <br />Of whom in truth it may be said <br />They 've neither head nor tail. <br />In purer times, ere vice prevailed, <br />They met with due regard, <br />The wholesome counsels that they gave, <br />With reverence were heard. <br /> <br />To marriages and funerals <br />Their presence added grace, <br />And though the king himself were by, <br />They took the highest place. <br />Their business is to stir up men <br />A constant watch to keep; <br />Instead of which,—O sad reverse,— <br />They make them fall asleep. <br />Not so in former times it was, <br />Howe'er it came to pass; <br />Though they their company ne'er left <br />Till empty was the glass. <br />The moderns can't be charged with this, <br />But may their foes defy, <br />To prove such practices on them, <br />Though they 're extremely dry.<br /><br />Anna Laetitia Barbauld<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/riddle-2-3/
