"Bacon and Greens" (1861)
A
Gastronomic Ditty
by
Sam[uel]: Cowell.

New York, NY: Wm. HALL & SON 543 Broadway
Boston. RUSSELL & TOLMAN.
New Orleans. P. P. WERLEIN.
Louisville. D. P. FAULDS & CO.
[Plate No,] 4606
[Engraver] Clayton.
[Source: 051/003@Levy]

1. I have lived long enough to be rarely mistaken,
And had my full share of life’s changeable scenes;
But my woes have been solaced by good Greens and Bacon,
And my joys have been doubled by Bacon and Greens.
What a thrill of remembrance e’en now they awaken,
Of childhood’s gay morning, and youth’s merry scenes;
When one day we had Greens and a plateful of Bacon,
And the next we had Bacon, and a plateful of Greens.

2. Ah! well I remember when sad and forsaken,
Heartwrung by the scorn of a Miss in her teens;
How I fled from her sight to my loved greens and bacon,
And forgot my despair over bacon and greens.
When the banks refused specie, and credit was shaken,
I shared in the wreck and was ruined in means;
My friends all declared I had not saved my bacon,
But I lived,— for I still had my bacon and greens.

3. If some fairy a grant of three wishes could make one
So worth less as I, and so laden with sins,
I’d wish all the greens in the world,— then the bacon,—
And then wish for a little more bacon and greens.
Oh! there is a charm in this dish, rightly taken,
That from custards and jellies an epicure weans;
Stick your fork in the fat, wrap your greens round the bacon,
And you’ll vow there’s no dish like good bacon and greens.