And ate into itself, for lack
Of somebody to hew and hack.
The peaceful scabbard where it dwelt,
The rancour of its edge had felt:
For of the lower end two handful 365
It had devour'd, 'twas so manful,
And so much scorn'd to lurk in case,
As if it durst not show its face.
In many desperate attempts,
Of warrants, exigents, contempts,[1] 370
It had appear'd with courage bolder
Than Serjeant Bum, invading shoulder:[2]
Oft had it ta'en possession,
And pris'ners too, or made them run.
This sword a dagger had, his page, 375
That was but little for his age:[3]
And therefore waited on him so,
As dwarfs upon knights errant do.
It was a serviceable dudgeon,[4]
Either for fighting or for drudging:[5] 380
When it had stabb'd, or broke a head,
It would scrape trenchers, or chip bread,
Toast cheese or bacon,[6] though it were
To bait a mouse-trap, 'twould not care.
'Twould make clean shoes, and in the earth 385
Set leeks and onions, and so forth:
It had been 'prentice to a brewer,
Where this, and more, it did endure;
But left the trade, as many more
Have lately done, on the same score.[7] 390
- ↑ Exigent is a writ issued in order to bring a person to an outlawry, if he does not appear to answer the suit commenced against him.
- ↑ Alluding to the method by which bum-bailiffs, as they are called, arrest persons, by giving them a tap on the shoulder.
- ↑ Thus Homer accoutres Agamemnon with a dagger hanging near his sword, which he used instead of a knife. Iliad. Lib. iii. 271.
- ↑ A dudgeon was a short sword, or dagger: from the Teutonic Degen.
- ↑ That is, for domestic uses or any drudgery, such as follows in the next verses.
- ↑ Corporal Nym says, in Shakspeare's Henry V., "I dare not fight, but I will wink, and hold out mine iron: it is a simple one, but what though—it will toast cheese."
- ↑ A joke upon Oliver Cromwell, who was said to be the son of a brewer in Huntingdonshire. It was frequently the subject of lampoons during his life-
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