A jolly old cooper am I,
And I'm mending this tub, do you see?
The workmen are gone, and I am alone,
And their tools are quite handy for me.
Now hammer and hammer away!
This hoop I must fit to the tub:
One, two—but I wish it would stay—
The workmen have gone to their grub.
How pleased they will be when they find
That I can do work to their mind!
Yes, a jolly old cooper—But stop!
What's this? Where's the tub? Oh, despair!
Knocked into a heap there it lies.
To face them now, how shall I dare?
The knocks I have given the tub
Will be echoed, I fear, on my head.
They are coming! Oh, yes! I can hear,—
I can hear on the sidewalk a tread.
Shall I stay, and confess it was I?
Yes, that's better than telling a lie!