Old Deuteronomy

Old Deuteronomy's lived a long time;
He's a cat who has lived many lives in succession.
He was famous in proverb and famous in rhyme
A long while before Queen Victoria's accession.
Old Deuteronomy's buried nine wives
And more, I am tempted to say ninety-nine;
And his numerous progeny prospers and thrives
And the village is proud of him in his decline.
At the sight of that placid and bland physiognomy,
When he sits in the sun on the vicarage wall,
The oldest inhabitant croaks: "Well, of all...
Things...Can it be...really! ...No! Yes!...
Ho! hi!
Oh, my eye!
My sight may be failing, but yet I confess
I believe it is Old Deuteronomy!"
Old Deuteronomy sits in the street,
He sits in the High Street on market day;
The Bullocks may bellow, the sheep they may bleat,
But the dogs and the herdsmen will turn them away.
The cars and the lorries over the kerb,
And the villagers put up a notice: ROAD CLOSED--
So that nothing untoward may chance to disturb
Deuteronomy's rest when he feels so disposed
Or when he's engaged in domestic economy:
And the Oldest Inhabitant croaks: "Well of all...
Things...Can it be...really!...No!...Yes!...
Ho! Hi!
Oh, my eye!
I'm deaf of an ear mow, but yet I can guess
That the cause of the trouble is Old Deuteronomy!"