
Little Thomas By F. Gwynne Evans Thomas was a little glutton Who took four times beef or mutton Then undid a lower button And consumed plum-duff. And when he could scarcely swallow Asked if there was more to follow As he'd still a tiny hollow That he'd like to stuff. He was told you won't get thinner While you will east so much dinner; If you don't take care some inner part of you will burst. He replied, "What does it matter Even if I do get fatter? Put more pudding on my platter Let it do its worst." Then one day, and little wonder, There was a report like thunder Doors and windows flew asunder And the cat had fits. As his anxious friends foreboded Dangerously overloaded Thomas had at length exploded And was blown to bits. His old nurse cried, much disgusted "There, just when I've swept and dusted, Drat the boy! He's gone and busted Making such a mess." While the painful task of peeling Thomas of the walls and ceiling Gave his family a feeling Of sincere distress. When a boy, who so obese is, Scatters into tiny pieces And the cause of his decease is Having overdined It is hard to send a version Of the facts of his dispersion To the papers for insertion Which will be refined. Any sorrowing relation Asked for an elucidation Of that awful detonation Was obliged to say: "Germans have not been to bomb us: It was only little Thomas, Who, alas! departed from us In that noisy way.

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