This page has been validated.
96
THE READING-CLUB.

TATERS.

(WITH A CHORUS.)

Of all the wonderful works of Nater,
What surprises me most, she can make a tater!
She gathers the stuff to produce a skin,
And then gradually stuffs the tater in.

Chorus.


Tater! tater! Best bread made by Nater!
No baker alive could make a tater.

In Ireland, where earth is so fertile and turfy,
They mispronounce tater by calling it Murphy.
In France, where all language to ribbons they tear,
They nominate tater a pomme de terre!

Tater ! tater ! The brown bread of Nater!
Old Nick couldn't give a worse nickname for tater.

Of words that sound proud I was always a hater—
Per-contra—per-centum—per-digious—per-tater!
All creatures that purr, from a fool to a cat,
Should be made to eat taters without any fat.

Tater! tater! Good Nater creator!
If an angel said per, I belave I should bate her.

O how shall I praise you? I don't want to hurt you
By making you vain and destroying your virtue;
But — baked, fried, boiled, roasted, you're equally good,
And in pigpen or palace alike understood.

Tater! tater! First and best boon of Nater!
When I stop being poet, I'd turn to a tater.

What makes all men kin? It is "one touch of Nater!"
And what is that touch, but the touch of a tater?
Of all flowers of the field, tater flour I most prize,
Best bread for the body and meet for the eyes.