Peter Bell the Third

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

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. 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. 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.

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...