Cologne
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Köhln, a town of monks and bones,
And pavements fang'd with murderous stones
And rags, and hags, and hideous wenches ;
I counted two and seventy stenches,
All well defined, and several stinks !
Ye Nymphs that reign o'er sewers and sinks,
The river Rhine, it is well known,
Doth wash your city of Cologne ;
But tell me, Nymphs, what power divine
Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine ?
..............................................................
Thomas Hood
1799-1845
Ye tourists and travellers, bound to the Rhine,
Provide with passport, that requisite docket,
First listen to one little whisper of mine -
Take care of your pocket! - take care of your pocket!
Don't wash or be shaved - go like hairy wild men,
Play dominoes, smoke, wear a cap and smock-frock it
But if you speak English, or look it, why then
Take care of your pocket ! - take care of your pocket!
You'll sleep at great inns, in the smallest of beds,
Find charges as apt to mount up as a rocket.
With thirty percent as a tax on your heads,
Take care of your pocket! - take care of your pocket!
You'll see old Cologne, - not the sweetest of towns,-
Wherever you follow your nose you will shock it;
And you'll pay your three dollars to look at three
crowns,
Take care of your pocket! - take care of your pocket!