The Gallows + 

There was a weasel lived in the sun + 

With all his family, + 

Till a keeper shot him with his gun + 

And hung him up on a tree, + 

Where he swings in the wind and rain, + 

In the sun and in the snow, + 

Without pleasure, without pain, + 

On the dead oak tree bough. + 

There was a crow who was no sleeper, + 

But a thief and a murderer + 

Till a very late hour; and this keeper + 

Made him one of the things that were, + 

To hang and flap in rain and wind, + 

In the sun and in the snow. + 

There are no more sins to be sinned + 

On the dead oak tree bough. + 

There was a magpie, too, + 

Had a long tongue and a long tail; + 

He could both talk and do⁠— + 

But what did that avail? + 

He, too, flaps in the wind and rain + 

Alongside weasel and crow, + 

Without pleasure, without pain, + 

On the dead oak tree bough. + 

And many other beasts + 

And birds, skin, bone and feather, + 

Have been taken from their feasts + 

And hung up there together, + 

To swing and have endless leisure + 

In the sun and in the snow, + 

Without pain, without pleasure, + 

On the dead oak tree bough. + 