TOMMY O'Linn was a Scotsman born, His head was bald and his beard was shorn: He had a cap made of a hare's skin, An alderman was Tommy O'Linn. Tommy O'Linn had no boots to put on, But two calves' skins with the hair all gone: They were split at the side, and the water went in, It's damp to the feet, said Tommy O'Linn. Tommy O'Linn had no coat to put on, He borrowed a goatskin to make himself one: He planted the horns right under his chin, They'll answer for pistols, said Tommy O'Linn. Tommy O'Linn had no breeches to wear, So he got him a sheepskin to make him a pair, With the skinny side out and the woolly side in, Aha! this is warm, said Tommy O'Linn. Tommy O'Linn had no watch to put on, So he scooped out a turnip to make himself one: He caught a cricket, and put it within, It is my own ticker, said Tommy O'Linn. Tommy O'Linn went to bring his wife home, He had but one horse that was all skin and bone: I'll put her behind me as neat as a pin, And her mother before me, said Tommy O'Linn. Tommy O'Linn, his wife and wife's mother, They all went over the bridge together: The bridge broke down and they all tumbled in, We'll find ground at the bottom, said Tommy O'Linn. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON BEING ASKED TO WRITE A POEM AGAINST THE WAR IN VIETNAM by HAYDEN CARRUTH MATER AMABILIS by EMMA LAZARUS BACCALAUREATE by ARCHIBALD MACLEISH NOTHING WILL CURE THE SICK LION BUT TO EAT AN APE' by MARIANNE MOORE |