The World’s Wit and Humor: An Encyclopedia in 15 Volumes. 1906.
Matthias Claudius (17401815)The Hen and the Egg
A
Who ne’er was known to tire
Of laying eggs, but then she’d scream
So loud o’er every egg, ’twould seem
The house must be on fire.
A turkey-cock, who ruled the walk,
A wiser bird, and older,
Could bear’t no more, so off did stalk
Right to the hen, and told her:
“Madam, that scream, I apprehend,
Does not affect the matter;
It surely helps the eggs no whit;
So, lay your egg—and done with it!
I pray you, madam, as a friend,
Cease that superfluous clatter.
You know not how’t goes through my head!”
“Humph! Very likely!” madam said,
Then, proudly putting forth a leg:
“Uneducated barnyard fowl,
You know no more than any owl
The noble privilege and praise
Of authorship in modern days!
I’ll tell you why I do it:
First, you perceive, I lay my egg,
And then—review it.”