Inscription in a copy of Wee Willie Winkie presented to Mrs Hill

I cannot write, I cannot think
I only eat and sleep and drink.—
They say I was an author once
I know I am a happy dunce
Who snores along the deck and waits
To catch  the rattle of the  plates,
Who drowns ambition in a sea
Of Lager or of Tivoli
I cannot write, I cannot sing—
I long to hear the meal–bell ring—
I cannot sing—I cannot write
I am a Walking Appetite.

But you insist and I obey.
Here Goes!
                    In steamer Madura
Now rolling through a tepid sea
March 10th
                    To Mrs Hill
                                          From
                                                     me.
A journalist unkempt and inky
With all regards, WEE WILLIE WINKIE.

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