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DEATH IN " THE RING.
Wkll ! so I've 'floor'd' these 'fancy' fighting-cocks,And ' finish'd' them in style! Presumptuousfellows!They' chafF'd'of Science —and, forsooth, would boxWith one whose ' hits' are sure to touch the* bellows!'Conceited mortals ! thus to ' spar' with Death,
Whose fame's almost as old as the Creation !—For knock-down blows, which take away the breath,
I've ever had a first-rate reputation:And yet these heroes of the science fistic,—
Poor stupid drones !—Thinking I couldn't' come it pugilistic,'Threw up their' castors,' stak'd the ' ready bustle/' Peel'd,' and prepar'd with Death to have a
tussle—As though their flesh, and blood, and muscle,Were proof against my bones!