By H.C.Hodge.
Too many irons don't keep in the fire ;
The laborer's worthy indeed of his hire.
He is nobody's fool ; like two peas in a pod
An honest man is the work noblest of God.
Sweet tooth in his head; enough's good as a feast ;
Business first, pleasure afterward; last, but not least.
Anticipation is pleasanter than
Reality is ; nine tailors make a man.
You can't teach your grandmother how to suck eggs ;
Never a chooser can one be who begs.
Fire a good servant is but a bad master ;
Laughter is truly a poor person's plaster,
Heavy weather it is when it's snowing in bed ;
Your best foot put forward ; hit the nail on the head.
Fate has no feeling ; what is done is done ;
And two heads are always much better than one.
Lies travel so fast that you can't overtake 'em,
Don't put all your eggs in one basket to break 'em.
From Dan to Beersheba ; don't hit a man down ;
Uneasy the head lies that weareth a crown.
Laziness is the true parent of vice ;
Lightening don't strike in one place ever twice.
Without rhyme or reason; honored more in the breach
Than in the observance; he sticks like a leech.
The borrower's servant to lender ; fear lends
Him wings ; do not bite off your cake at both ends.
Early to bed and early to rise
Makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise.
At home begins charity; after the cake
The stomach ache cometh ; do good for good's sakes.
Misery company likes ; bag of wind ;
Eels, getting used to it, like to be skinned,
The fools are not dead yet ; a word to the wise ;
Beauty's a blossom ; close mouths catch no flies.
When the sun is in the west lazy folks work the best ;
A sin half forgiven is when it's confessed.
As the old rooster crows so the young rooster learns ;
Some folks never know water drowns and fire burns,
Charity covers a great many sins ;
As fine as a fiddle; on needles and pines.
Young men for action, for council the old ;
All things that glitter by no means are gold.
Notes
From the Victoian Newspaper The Evelyn Observer, and South and East Bourke Record 15 Jun 1894 p. 1.
A number of American poet H.C.Dodge's compositions found their way into Australian newspapers in the 1890s. It was of course a time when the Australian Labour movement was finding new ways to demand better conditions."
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