I + 

The Dolls + 

A doll in the doll-maker’s house + 

Looks at the cradle and bawls: + 

“That is an insult to us.” + 

But the oldest of all the dolls + 

Who had seen, being kept for show, + 

Generations of his sort, + 

Out-screams the whole shelf: “Although + 

There’s not a man can report + 

Evil of this place, + 

The man and the woman bring + 

Hither to our disgrace, + 

A noisy and filthy thing.” + 

Hearing him groan and stretch + 

The doll-maker’s wife is aware + 

Her husband has heard the wretch, + 

And crouched by the arm of his chair, + 

She murmurs into his ear, + 

Head upon shoulder leant: + 

“My dear, my dear, oh dear, + 

It was an accident.” + 