Poetry.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 457, 21 March 1857, Page 4

Poetry.

Thnmat Hood,

LIEUTENANT LUFF., AH you that are fond of wine, Or any other stuff, TaVo warning by the dismal fate Of one Lieutenant Luff; A sober man he might have been, Except in onerefrard: . He did not 1 ike soft water, ■ But took to drinking Hard. Said he *• Lot others fancy slops, And talk in praise of tea ; But I am no Bohemian, - ] So do not like Bohea; If wine is poison, so is tea, Though in another shape; What matter, -whether one is killed By cannister or grape." According to this kind of tnste Did he indulge his drouth, And being fond of Pott,: he made A port-hole of hi» mouth ; A single pint he might have sipped, And not been n.i of sorts; In •' geologic" phrase, the rock He split upon was qnartz!' Full soon the sad effects of this His frame began to show, For that old enemy, the gont, Had taken him in toe ; And joined with this au evil came Of quite another sort; For, while he drank himself, his purso Was getting " something short." For want of cash he soon had pawned One-half that he possessed ; , And drinking showed him duplicates Beforehand of ;the rest; So now his creditors resolved To seize on his assets; For why, they found that his half-pay Did not half pay bis debts. But Luff contrived a novel mode ,His creditors to chouse; For his own execution he Put into his own houso. A pistol to the muzzle charged He took devoid of fear; Said he, " This barrel is my last, • So now for ray last bieri" Against his longs he aimed the slugs, And. not against tis brain ; So he blew out his lights, and none Could blow them in. again. A jury, for a. verdict met, And gave it m these terms: " We find as how as certain slugs Has sent him to the ■worms."