Peter Bell the Third

1. 'O that mine enemy had written A book!'--cried Job:--a fearful curse, If to the Arab, as the Briton, 460 'Twas galling to be critic-bitten:-- The Devil to Peter wished no worse.

1. The Devil now knew his proper cue.-- Soon as he read the ode, he drove To his friend Lord MacMurderchouse's, 655 A man of interest in both houses, And said:--'For money or fo...

1. Lo. Peter in Hell's Grosvenor Square, A footman in the Devil's service! And the misjudging world would swear 265 That every man in service there To virtue would prefer vice.

1. Hell is a city much like London-- A populous and a smoky city; There are all sorts of people undone, And there is little or no fun done; 150 Small justice shown, and still le...

1. Among the guests who often stayed Till the Devil's petits-soupers, A man there came, fair as a maid, 375 And Peter noted what he said, Standing behind his master's chair.

2. His eyes turned up, his mouth turned down; His accent caught a nasal twang; He oiled his hair; there might be heard The grace of God in every word Which Peter said or sang. 10

1. The Devil, I safely can aver, Has neither hoof, nor tail, nor sting; Nor is he, as some sages swear, A spirit, neither here nor there, In nothing--yet in everything. 80