The Mortgage Big Poem by Robert Kirkland Kernighan

Did y' ever see a mortgage big

A mortgage big?
It eats the farm, the cow, the pig

The cow and pig;
It eats the butter and the cheese;
It eats the hives of honey bees;
It eats the peach and apple trees

The apple trees.

It eats the handsome two-year-old

The two-year-old;
The pretty gelding must be sold

He must be sold!

It eats the wheat, the oats and corn;
The farmer's heart with grief is worn;
His overalls are tattered an' torn

Are tattered an' torn.

It eats the duck and it eats the hen

It eats the hen;
It darkly comes, you know not when

You know not when;
The farmer's wife is filled with sighs;
It puts the tear-drops in her eyes;
It steals her plums and apple pies

Her apple pies.

It makes her wear an old print dress
An old print dress;



It fills her soul with great distress

With great distress;
It hurts and injures every arm;
She knows, down in her bosom warm,
That 's why the boys all leave the farm

They leave the farm!

Did y' ever see a mortgage big

A mortgage big?
It eats the goose, the colt and pig

The colt and pig;
It eats the hay-stack and the hen;
It makes a wreck of perch and pen,
And, Oh! it makes a wreck of men

A wreck of men!